Change
by Shadow Quil
Summary: Complete. Team Seven splits off to train and get stronger, but what happens when they come back after Sakura adopts an alter-ego as an assassin? Possibly going under construction at some point - a jumble of ideas rather than a real plot. NARUTO NOT MINE!
1. Introduction

**UPDATE 14/04/12**

**To anyone just finding this and wanting to read: read this story at your own risk. I'm not being modest – it's really not very good. It was the first story I'd ever posted online and has plots that go nowhere, bad descriptions, Sakura becomes an OC about half-way though, everyone is OOC and the only reason I'm not taking it down is because of sentimental reasons, a warning to myself of what happens when the story takes control of you, and also because there _are_ some fans of Control that I have decided to leave it up for.**

**Also, if anyone reads this and thinks it is like another story, Huntress, then please review by giving me a link to that story! I would seriously like to go and see how alike they really are! I wrote this from my own ideas – albeit slightly bad ones – and am kinda interested to see if my story and Huntress really are similar enough for people to be calling me a thief!**

**So, read if you wish, but don't blame me if you find it crap. I've given you fair warning...**

Prologue

We stood on the Bridge Team 7 always meets. To my left, a certain orange clad 12 year old, mumbling to himself about ramen, stood swaying back and forth on his heals with his hands held behind his head. To my right, the dark haired, dark eyed, Uchiha Survivor stood, hands in pockets, staring into the waters below. I myself stood quietly with my hands held behind my back, my short pink hair getting slightly ruffled in the wind. _'Where is he?' _I thought to myself, _'He should have been here three hours ago!'_ **'Hell Yeah! We stand here waiting for him everyday! You would think that he would be on time today. It's the last time we see each other for four years!' **Yes that's right, today we split up, to train on our own, without Kakashi, without the Village and without each other. We were talking about it a month ago and decided that we needed it, to be able to train without distractions. I can't forget it; I haven't spoken to Sasuke since.

_**Flash Back**_

"_We aren't improving at all" Said a man with silver hair and a mask that leaves only one eye in clear sight._

"_It's the Teme's Fault, Kakashi-Sensei! Blame Him!" Naruto Yelled while pointing a finger accusingly at Sasuke._

"_Shut up Dobe." Said boy replied in a bored tone. "If you didn't stop training every three seconds to complain, talk about Ramen or ogle at Sakura we could have trained harder and for longer."_

"_Shut up Teme!"_

"_Make me Dobe."_

"_Grrrr Teme!"_

"_Baka."_

"_Loser!"_

"_Baka."_

"_You…You…Grrrrr…"_

"_Hn." Sasuke smirked at Naruto thus ending the fight._

"_Sakura you've been awfully quiet. What's wrong?"_

"_Hu? Oh, nothing Kakashi-sensei, it's just…"_

"_What?"_

"_Well…"_

"_What is it Sakura-chan?"_

"_I was thinking… Sasuke, Naruto and I only train to a lesser extent than we should because we get distracted by… well… each other. So I was thinking… um… that we should split up for… awhile… not too long though… just to train and stuff."_

"_That sounds like a good idea Sakura, but how would it help?" Inquired the Jounin._

"_Hn. Of course it would help. I could train way better without an annoying dobe and a weak fangirl holding me back."_

"_Sasuke-teme, don't say that about Sakura-chan!"_

"_It's true. She is weak. Also, she is pathetic, annoying and a sorry excuse for a ninja. I'm embarrassed to be on the same team as her." He stated coldly._

"_You Teme, say sorry to Sakura-chan. Now."_

"_Why should I say sorry for telling you the facts?"_

"_Take that back Teme! Sakura-chan is- eh? Sakura-chan? Where'd she go?"_

_**End Flash Back**_

I ran home. He was so cold; his words hit me like a thousand shuriken. It stung so badly. How could he say those things?

"_Why should I say sorry for telling you the facts?"_

He was right though. I am weak. I should never have become a ninja. _'I'm so Pathetic.' _**'Wha-? You believed that teme!' **_'He was just stating the facts.' _**'No! He was being a jerk! You should've kicked his butt right then and there!'**

My thoughts were interrupted by a 'Poof' that signalled the arrival of my, always late, sensei.

"Yo!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Yelled Naruto but I choose to just remain silent this time.

"Well you see, I was told that my mother's, cousin's, grandmother's, aunt was having a baby so I-"

"LIAR!"

"Well… um… anyway, this is the last time team 7 will be togther for a very long time and I… I just…"

'_Sensei? Is he upset?' _"Sensei what's wrong?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing, I just didn't think this would ever happen. That's all."

"Hn. Whatever."

"Waaaaaa I'm gonna miss you Sakura-Chan! Kakashi-sensei! Even you Sasuke-teme!"

"It's noon." I stated solemnly. "Time to go."

"I got Tsunade-sama's permission for you three to leave the village for four years to train. I'll See you all here. Noon. Friday 15th march. In four years. Goodbye."

"Bye Kakashi-sensei!" Cheered Naruto loudly.

"See ya Sensei." I said with a small sad smile.

"Hn. Later." Said Sasuke, without any emotion, and with those parting word our sensei disappeared, not to be seen by the three genins of team 7 for another four years.

As we made our way to the gates we told each other where we were planning to go.

"I'm going to Suna to see Garra-sama again! I should be fun training with him. I'll stay there for the full four years!" Proclaimed Naruto enthusiastically. "What about you Teme?"

"Hn. I'm going to spend my four years Kumogakure, in the Land of Lightning."

"Cool! What about you Sakura-chan?"

"I don't know. I'll probably just wander around for awile. You know, till I find something."

"Really Sakura-chan? Are you sure? I mean, you could get hurt, or killed if you just wander around."

"I'll be fine Naruto." **'Yeah! We'll be fine. With our Secret training and bloodline limit, we'll be just fine!' **_'I feel so guilty for not telling them about this, I mean, holding back my power from day one is one thing, but lying and sneaking around behind their back's is another thing all togther. Maybe I should tell them…' _**'Hell no! You're leaving for awhile anyway! Just let them find out on their own or tell them when you come back!'**_ 'Yeah, okay then.'_

"Hey Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan!"

"Huh? Wha?"

"You spaced out. I was asking you if you wanted to get ramen when we get back."

"Naruto, were leaving for years, not days. You're saying it like we'll see each other again tomorrow or something."

"Oh, well, what's you're answer?"

"Dobe. Of course she'll say no. Just like the time before, and the time before that, and the time before that." Said Sasuke nonchalantly. _'Humph. How dare he. I don't always reject Naruto. There was that time when- okay no that was with Ino. Okay how about the time- no that was with Tenten.'_ **'Oh I know. There was the time you went round Ino's house together with him and Tenten. You did each others nails, hair and make up! Remember?'** _'You baka! That was Hinata! Wow I really do always reject him. Ouch. Well not this time.' _**'Yeah! You go girl!'**

"Actually Naruto, when we get back, I would love to get ramen with you."

"Really? Oh so cool Sakura-chan! We can get chicken, beef, miso-"

"Whoa there Naruto. How 'bout we choose when we go get ramen, in four years okay?"

"Yeah! Cool Sakura-chan."

"Well, here we are." I looked away from Naruto and stared at the gate separating Konoha from to outside world. As it opened my smile turned into a frown and I was about to take my first step into the world beyond the Village when a voice stopped me.

"So, this is goodbye, huh?" Naruto said quietly. He sounded so sad. All of a sudden, and without any warning, I hugged Naruto like he was going to disappear if I let go and, in a way, he was.

"I'll miss you so much Naruto." I whispered to him. Tears were stinging my eyes, threatening to fall at any given moment, and for once in my life they were real. Not the fake tears I cry to keep up the 'sweet, innocent, konoichi who wouldn't harm a fly' routine, real tears of real sorrow because, though I would never admit it to anyone, I loved Naruto dearly. Not a love like a girlfriend would have for a boyfriend, the love a sister would have for her brother, because Naruto was just that, my little brother. I would always love him like that.

In fact, now that I think about it, Konoha is my family. Tsunade, the grandmother, loving and caring, with one heck of a temper. Shinzune, an aunt, always worrying about this and that. Kakashi, my father, someone to look up to and fun to be with. Naruto and Lee, my brothers, overprotective, funny and lovable. Ino, Tenten, Hinata and Temari, my sisters, always there when I need them, whether it's to talk, shop or gossip; they are always there for me. Heck even Neji, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and Shino are like cousins, not close cousins, but cousins none the less. Ever since the girls introduced me formally to their team mates, as I had heard about and seen them once or twice at the Academy, we have all gotten along great, but Neji still won't say more than one word at a time and Choji still won't share his potato chips with me. Unfair! I don't know how I will live without them.

I released Naruto and held him at arms length for a few second, memorising his features, least I forget, before letting him go and letting my arms fall to my sides. Tears were streaming down my face at this point and, as I ferociously wiped them from my checks, more flowed from my eyes, as if trying to escape, so I gave up and let them fall.

I, once again, looked to Naruto to see him crying as well. The next thing I saw really took me by surprise though. I looked around to Sasuke, only to see his eyes filled with water, but of course he would never let them fall. That sight, however, was enough to make me realise something. Sasuke is also apart of my 'family'. I just don't know what he is yet. He is too close to me to be a cousin like most of the other boys I know, yet, as I have lately found out, not close enough to be like a brother, or anything else like that, to me either. He most certainly wasn't a sister, for obvious reason. What was he?

My thoughts were interrupted as a hand was placed in front of me, suspended in mid air. As I looked up the arm to the shoulder, the neck and then the face, I was confronted by the most familiar sight I could ever imagine. Naruto's eyes where closed and his mouth was spread as far as humanly possible in a huge grin, which no one on earth could do as well as Naruto. As I was about to say something, Naruto cut my off.

"To Friendship." He declared. Another hand was placed atop of his. Sasuke's hand.

"To gaining power." He said confidently. Then the final hand was added to the pile. Mine. The picture almost complete. All it needed were the final words to make it perfect.

"To our memories that we will never forget." I said with pride as I looked first as Sasuke, then to Naruto.

"To Team 7." We chorused.

With those as our parting words we all made our way though the gates, Sasuke taking the path though the forest to the left to get to Kumogakure, Naruto heading straight down the main path to Suna and me taking the path to the right to go where ever the wind takes me.

I don't know why but sometimes I get this feeling. It's telling me that this isn't the end. No, this is only the beginning.


	2. Huntress

Chapter One

I sat on a rooftop in Kirigakure, the Village Hidden in the Mist. I have been in Water Country for about three months. I was hired by Mitaruku, a man who only speaks two languages. Cash and Kill. I was hired as a personal assassin and was one of the few people he trusts. I can't say that the feeling is mutual though, since I would rather impale a kunai in his big head than listen to another one of his boring business meetings.

Mitaruku was a short, tubby man with a bald patch in the centre of his skull. The little hair that does remain is a sickly grey that reminds me of death, and trust me, I've done a lot of killing since I became an assassin, and I know what death looks like. His eyes were a dull brown and he always wore a ring on his left index finger, it was made of gold, had a diamond and was engraved with his initials, not my personal preference to jewellery, I will always prefer silver, but quite nice and quite expensive. I'll say this though; it's no secret that, when the old geezer passes on, I get everything. He left it to me in his will, but why he left everything to a cold, heartless assassin, I will never know.

Like I was saying, I sat on a rooftop, looking down on the small village. I felt sorry for my next victim, as I am in a very bad mood and the death won't be pretty in the slightest. The reason for my mood is that the old geezer has just sent me out on my eleventh kill this week, and it's only Thursday! Yes, I am in a very bad mood.

I look at the picture again to see if I can spot the good-as-dead man that I am hunting. Tall, dark hair, not quite black but dark none the less, blue eyes, pale completion and wears green shirts most of the time. _'Green Shirts? Why would I need to know that? Mitaruku must think I'm an idiot to put that on there!'_

Just as I am about to leave to look somewhere else a man walks out of the bar across the street to where I am perched. I take a closer look by jumping down into an alley and, lo and behold, the man I was sent to terminate in all his drunken glory.

So I can get a bit closer without raising too much suspicion I used my 'Henge no Jutsu' to transform into a woman in her early 20s. My pink hair is now brown and tied into a ponytail at the back with a piece of hair loose to hang beautifully over my face, I'll have to thank Ino for the inspiration next time I see her. My black clothing is replaced by a purple miniskirt that comes just above the knees and a pink tube top with a purple floral design. My shoes are dark blue heals and I'm now carrying a blue clutch bag to match.

As I slowly walk in his direction I get stared at by several men and, if I wasn't working right now, those eyes of theirs would be looking at the insides of their stomachs.

"Hi there." I cooed gently, "I'm Takioto. May I Know your name?" He then turned to my and gave me a lopsided grin.

"Genaki Kutonu." He replied. His breath made me cringe inwardly; I have always hated beer breath.

"Well Kuto-Kun, I have a gift for you," I say before giggling girlishly, "But you'll have to follow me to see it."

He followed like a lost puppy, _'Idiot' _I think to myself, **'You're right, I mean, who follows a complete stranger into a dark alley without question?' **_'An easy target.' _I think before throwing him against a wall and cancelling the Jutsu.

His eyes widened as he looked at my 16 year old, black clad form. I wore a tight, black, sleeveless vest with a zipper on the front and a silver necklace with a tear-shaped pendent made of amethyst. My mini skirt changed into long black Trousers with silver chains coming from the front pocket to clip onto the back of my belt. On the chain, three kunai hung, dangerously swaying from side to side, my fingers dancing over the cold blades in an intimidating manor. My shoes where long black boots that stopped just before my knees and my pink hair, that I grew until it reached my lower back, was held back in a high braid. My green eyes that used to shine with the excitement of a new D rank mission now two cold emeralds. Before I ran one of the kunai that I was playing with across his throat he said one word.

My name. The name given to my by the people who have heard of my work. The name I have grown to love. No one knows my real name so that is what I go by. As that name slipped past his lips, his final moment was gone, and he had used up it to state who I was. _'What a waste of his final breath.'_ I thought to my self. But as he said it, I couldn't stop a smirk that found its way to my face. The name that strikes fear into the hearts of child and adult alike. My name.

"_Huntress"_

Like the hunter I seek out and kill my prey. Cold and unmerciful. That is why they gave me this name and that is why, whenever someone calls me by this name, I feel powerful. Not like Haruno Sakura. The weak Konoichi that needed to be protected. The Huntress was the one you protect against, not the one you protect.

I wipe my kunai clean and jump from roof to roof. It's time to move on. Collect my pay and leave. After all, I must meet my team soon, only six months left. Besides, I was never very good at staying in one place for too long. Perhaps my old employer in sound can give me a less boring task that killing drunken dopes who didn't do anything to you except steal your Shoji board when you were twelve.

Or maybe I should finally take up the leader of the Akatsuki on his job offer. Not that I need the money. After all the jobs I've pulled I'm rich. I have enough money for me to buy the entire Uchiha and Hyuuga estate one thousand times over and still have money to spare.

Okay, so I'm exaggerating a bit, but I still have a lot of money. All I need is some excitement and a challenge. I have never failed a job and I have had a lot of new job offers, but it's all so boring. There's no thrill in killing off an entire academy class, of nine year olds none the less. I'm glad I turned that job down. I may be an assassin but I have enough soul left in me to stop me killing a dozen kids that haven't even had their 10th birthday yet.

I can't wait to see Konoha again after all this time. I wonder if they missed me. I can't wait to see Naruto; I still haven't forgotten the ramen he owes me. Ino will want to hear all of my travel stories. I found a shirt in lightning country that she would love so I got it for her. It's a purple sleeveless t-shirt with a blue kitten on the front and on the back it reads '2 cute 4 U' in bold pink letters.

After I got that I thought I should get something for the others as well. So I got Hinata a blue parasol with green vines painted on it and her name engraved in the handle. Tenten has got a custom kunai set, each kunai has the name of a different weapons master or mistress on the handle and, as a special treat, I got her name put onto one of the kunai as well. I got Kiba and Akamaru a mist village ball to play with and I got Choji a lightning country cook book. Shino was one of the hardest to shop for and I got him some new shades. I got Shikamaru a custom shoji board with clouds painted onto it in odd places.

I bought Lee a book called 'The Youth of Spring' for obvious reasons. When my friend in the mist village found that she kept calling me the queen of youth so I shut her up. For good. Neji, he was the one I had almost given up on. I was just about to end my search when I found a katana with the Konoha symbol carved into the hilt. Why the mist had a Konoha katana, I will never know.

Naruto was going to get ramen, a lot of ramen, when I choose something different for him. A chain to go around his neck. It was plain silver and not too big. The pendant was a simple circle with 'Ramen Freak' engraved into it. He'll love it. Kakashi is going to get a watch. Simple silver with bits of gold here and there, but most importantly, it had a mini-alarm.

Sasuke was hard to shop for. At first I considered getting him a new shuriken set. Then I thought about a book called 'The seven deadly sins', but in the end I found him a ruby cut in the shape of an eye with onyx spirals that greatly resemble the Sharingan. I had to get him that. So I did.

I finally got back to Mitaruku's place and told him that I was leaving. He tried to stop me but he couldn't. I got paid and used a shrinking Jutsu that I invented to Shrink my belongings, and put everything in a pouch I had attached to my waist. After I had a quick checked to make sure I had everything with me, I leapt onto one of the roofs closest to me and set off.

Next Stop.

Konoha.


	3. Critics

Chapter Two

I ran my blade gently across the skin of my latest target, a man in his late 30's. I myself had a few scratches on my arms and face but nothing too serious. My employer had failed to mention that my prey had six Jounin level ninja protecting him. Said ninja were now lying, cold as the death that showed on their faces, on the forest floor. Their expressions frozen in an instant of their lives. It showed pain, suffering and, surprisingly of all, fear. They were afraid to die.

'_What kind of ninja is afraid of death?' _**'Cha! They should be honoured to die a ninja's death!' **_'I was also afraid to die once… so long ago, yet… bah never mind. I'm way stronger now and I do not fear death. No way, no how!' _**'Shannaro!'**

I was very afraid to die not too long ago. _Four years_ ago to be precise. I was afraid to die before I finished living. _'Does that even make sense?' _**'No not really.' **_'Oh well'_ Now I fear nothing but fear itself. The only thing I focus on is not to lose. Whether I win or not is unimportant. I just can't lose. If I win then my target is dead and I walk away with my life. If I lose then the effect is vice versa. If simply do not lose then we both die. The target and myself. When I win I am thankful. I will live on, of course I'm thankful. If I were ever to fail… it would be like the mouse eating the cat. I am the hunter in this little game I play. I am always the victor. I have never lost.

My grandparents lost once. Now they are gone. That's all is takes really. Once. One bad move. Then it's over. Done. The end. They chose to go to Suna during a civil war, they died, I mourned. They are one of my many examples of why I can never lose.

My target, Hanabiku Moreno, sat on the ground, my blade pressed gently yet threatening against the soft, delicate skin of his neck. His face was twisted into a look of defeat and regret. His eyes. A cool grey filled with misery, suffering and anguish. '_I almost feet sorry for him.' _**'Really?'** _'I said almost.' _I thought with a smirk, **'Cha! Run that sword of yours right though his stomach! No mercy! Shannaro!'**

He looked at me. His eyes filled with something else that I haven't seen in a long time. I pitied him. His eyes only portrayed one emotion that the world should have gotten rid of long ago. His eyes were pleading with me. As if begging me to let him go. _'Pathetic'_

"P-P-Please… I d-don't want to die like t-th-this. Now here… not now."

"Are you afraid of death?" I asked calmly, as if we were discussing the subject over a cup of tea on a bright Sunday afternoon instead of a cold Friday night in a forest that now reeked of bloody murder.

"No… Y-Yes… I-I don't know… please let me… let me live… Please!" Tears fell down his cheeks now. I really did pity him. So weak. **'Come on! Let's kill the pathetic cry baby!' **_'Fine'_

"I'm sorry, it's not my choice. I am the hunter. You are the pray. It is in my nature to kill you, just as it is in yours to die by my hand."

"No! Please! I-" His words were cut short by the sharp silver object in my hand dancing perfectly though his neck. A red liquid crept down the shining blade and onto the hilt of my sword before resting on the back of my hand. Blood. It was still warm. It reminded me of my first kill. She was around 47 years of age. Jounin level. I came out of that covered in a mixture of her blood and my own. All of it still warm and fresh. It made my feel sick. Now, however, I am used to the warm sensation trickling over my skin. I can ignore it completely.

'**That we so lame! Cha!' **_'What are you talking about?'_**'I am the hunter. You are the pray. It is in my nature to kill you, just as it is in yours to die by my hand. That was so lame!' **_'Well he's dead isn't he?' _**'Yeah but why can't you just stick to the classics like "Goodbye, I wont be seeing you again" or "DIE FREAK!" your lines are like, so lame! Shannaro!' **_'Look there MY lines and I'll say what I want. Damn critics.'_


	4. Home and a Shadow

Chapter Three

The wind whipped my hair furiously across my face as I leapt though the trees. _'At last, I am returning home.' _**'Now don't get all sappy on me. Cha!' **_'I wonder if anything has changed.' _**'Are you even listening to me?' **_'Are Naruto, Sasuke and the others all the same, or have they changed too?' _**'HELLO!?!' **_'OW! You just gave me the queen of all headaches!' _**'Try listening to me in future then.' **_'Fine. What did you want to say?' _**'Um, I can't remember. Hehe.'**_ 'If you weren't inside my head…' _**'Hey! What's that supposed to mean?' **_'Oh, nothing.'_

I stopped on a branch with a perfect view of the Konoha gates. A moment of hesitation swept over me. **'What are you waiting for? Go in!' **_'I will, it's just that… if I don't go in, I could get stronger, never return. I could become a missing-nin and-' _**'DON'T YOU DARE!' **_'What, why not?' _**'You wouldn't shut up about how much you missed everyone in Konoha for the last four years and I couldn't put up with that for the rest of my life! If you don't go in though those gates right now, I will never speak to you again!' **I turned on my heals and was prepared to tree hop all the way to sound, just to shut her up when; **'No! I was just kidding! If you leave then I won't ever shut up! Ever! Shannaro!' **I turned back around and leapt from the tree. I was standing right in front of the gates and I could hear the guards talking.

"That's Haruno, Sakura!" One of them said.

"Are you sure?" Asked another.

"Who else has pink hair?" Replied voice number one.

"Oh, right." Voice number two said dumbly and with that, they opened the gates.

Konoha hasn't changed one bit. I smiled to myself as I heard the voice of someone that, only five minuets ago, I was going to leave forever.

"FOREHEAD GIRL!!!!" She screamed and lunged herself at me. We fell to the floor in a heap and I heard a muffled voice saying something that sounded suspiciously like 'Troublesome'. I got up and came face to chin, as he was somewhat taller than me, with the lazy Genius himself. Another sound made it's was to my ear that sounded like munching.

"Hey Ino-pig, Shikamaru-san, Choji-san. I missed you."

"Hey Sakura-san." The aforementioned boys said simultaneously.

"What took you so long forehead? It's been… like… forever!"

"Only four year pig."

"Four years that could have been spent, oh I don't know, _shopping_?"

"Oh yeah! Speaking of shopping. Look what I got for you Ino-pig!" I said while getting out, and unshrinking, a box wrapped in purple and silver wrapping paper that was tied at the top with a pink bow. Ino grabbed the gift from me and viciously attacked the paper, bow and box before she got down to the shirt.

"I LOVE IT FOREHEAD GIRL!" Ino yelled before hugging the shirt to her chest and grinning like there was no tomorrow.

"I got something for you guys too." I said to the boys standing as far away from Ino, the one-girl-screaming-and-yelling-contest, as possible without her noticing. The boys looked at me to see two more gifts in my hands, which I had returned to their normal size during Ino's outburst.

I handed Choji his gift first and then gave Shikamaru his. They opened them a lot neater than Ino did, even Choji, and scanned their respective presents. Choji grinned like a mad man and started to look though his book before muttering his thanks, as well as some evil plan for making his new found recipes take over the world, and then ran off to cook his new food minions. Ino recovered from her fit about how cute the kitten on the front of her t-shirt was and ran after Choji, yelling about how they had a mission to go on and he couldn't go home until it was complete.

Shikamaru looked at his gift once more and smiled.

"You know what Sakura-san. This gift isn't troublesome at all. Thank you." He said turning to face the direction that Ino and Choji had run, "Well I'd better go and get them. So troublesome. Bye Sakura-san."

"Bye Shikamaru-san." I replied and began to walk towards the bridge. I was passing Ichiruka's Raman stand when a flash of green passed me and stopped in front of me, smiling and standing in his infamous 'Good-guy-Pose'.

"Sakura-san! It is so good to see that the beautiful princess of springtime youth has returned to our own youthful village!" Lee declared, not once stopping his pose.

"Lee! Stop pestering Sakura-chan!" Tenten said once she reached where we were standing, Neji slowly walking behind her.

'_Three'_…**'Two'**…_'One'_

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

"Hi Tenten-chan, Lee-san, Neji-san."

"Good to see you again Sakura-san." Neji said sincerely. _'He said more than one word to me!' _**'Shannaro!'**

"It's good to see you to Neji-san. I have missed you all so much! Guess what I bought for you!"

"No I hate guessing! Just gimme!" Said Tenten impatiently.

"Fine, Fine. Here." I said throwing them their gifts that were now the normal size.

Tenten screamed her thanks at me before sprinting to the training ground to test her new weapons. Lee thanked me in a way that used to word 'Youth' seventeen times! He too ran, but he ran home to read his new book, and not to the training grounds like his female team mate had only moments ago. Neji apparently liked his gift because, as soon as he took a proper look at it, he attached it to his belt and followed Tenten to the training grounds with a small, quiet, thank you.

I had almost made it to the bridge when I was tackled by a puppy. I fell to the ground, face up, with Akamaru sitting on my stomach, barking and wagging his tail.

"Akamaru! What have I told you about…Sakura! You're back!" _'Wow, great detective skills Kiba'_ I thought to myself sarcastically.

"S-Sakura-chan? I-is that really y-you?" Asked the shy Hyuuga heiress from behind the quiet bug-nin of team 8, who was equally curious.

"Yep, it's me. Good to see you all again!" I said, standing up and brushing off my black outfit. It was pointless to do so, as not three seconds after saying that was I one again, face up on the floor. This time, however, it was not the dog that tackled me. No, it was detective dog boy, grinning like a madman and hugging me around the shoulders before getting up and dusting off his own clothes. He offered me his hand, which I took, and helped me up while muttering and apology.

"That's okay Kiba. I got presents for all of you by the way." I said handing each of them a still shrunk gift before cancelling to jutsu and returning them to normal size. Kiba was grinning again as soon as he opened the gift.

"Thanks Sakura! Come on Akamaru, let's go to the park! Bye guys!" He said running in the direction of the park.

"Bye Kiba!" I yelled at him. Shino just smirked and changed his usual black circle shades for the oval bluish/black ones I got for him before I could even get a small peak at his eyes.

"Thank you Sakura-san."

"You're welcome Shino-san." With that he walked off, leaving Hinata and I in the middle of the street.

"O-oh, w-wow Sakura-chan! I lo-love it!" She said, opening her parasol and swinging it over her shoulder. "I have to got meet my f-father for training. G-good bye Sakura-chan and th-thank you for the l-lovely gift."

"Bye Hinata-chan. See you later!" She waved a little and walked in the direction of her estate. _'Do they not know I'm an assassin or do they just not care?' _**'Don't ask me. Cha!'**

I walked over to the bridge and leant on one of the railings, enjoying the peace and quiet. My eyes were closed but I felt a familiar chakra closing in fast. When I opened my eyes I was greeted by the tell-tale orange of my best friend's jacket.

"Saaaakuuuuraaaaa-chaaaaaaan!" Naruto yelled holding my hostage in a huge bone-crushing hug.

"H-hello Naruto. C-can you l-let go? I n-need to b-breath!" I manage to choke out and he let me go, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry Sakura-chan."

"No problem Naruto."

"I got you a gift!" We said at the same time, each holding a box, wrapped beautifully in their hand. We smiled at each other and exchanged boxes.

I opened my present and stared in awe at the beautiful bracelet in the box. It was a silver chain with rose quartz gems hanging off of it in the shape of cherry Blossoms. I put it on my wrist and smiled at Naruto, muttering a thank you.

He seemed to like his gift as well because, as soon as he opened the box, the necklace was around his neck before I could blink. He hugged me again, but this time not quite as strong, and mumbled a thank you in my ear.

We waited, talking about random stuff we saw on our travels, and I danced around the topic of the newest and most powerful assassin quite well whenever Naruto brought it up. He said that he thought she was cool and strong and I felt internally flattered.

After about twenty minuets of chit-chat, Sasuke showed up. He hadn't changed at all. He had gotten stronger, but his appearance remained the same, just like Naruto's had. Unlike them, I hade turned in my bright red dress for black clothing, so I could do my job properly.

I gave Sasuke my gift to him, as did Naruto, and he said his thanks. He does like them both. I know he does. Naruto got him a book called 'The Teme's Guide to Being Nice' which we all found rather funny. He got Naruto a kunai, with a pattern on the handle that strangely resembled ramen and my gift from him was a silver ring, which a dazzling blue sapphire on it in the shape of a small rose and 'Sakura' engraved on the back.

A few moments later our Sensei 'Poofed' in, five minuets early!

"Wow Sensei! You early!" Naruto said with amazement obvious in his voice.

"Yeah! I guess miracles do happen." I added playfully.

"Haha. Very funny." Said Kakashi in a bored tone. "Come with me. The Hokage wishes to see how you have progressed."

As they walked to the Hokage's office they had no clue of the dark figure lurking in the shadow. "Soon, the strongest of team 7 will belong to us. Not long now." It said and slid away into the darkness.


	5. I Am She

Chapter Four

As we slowly made our way to the Hokage tower, I couldn't help but get the feeling we were being watched. It wasn't until I looked around the street that we were on that I noticed everyone was watching us. However, it didn't feel like the familiar, kind looks of the villagers, welcoming us back. It felt like a cold, evil glare that was ready to take us away from everything we loved and/or held dear.

When we entered the tower I could still feel the sharp gaze. The tower hadn't changed much though. Same walls, same floors, same blurry blob, same- wait- blurry blob? I was once again tackled to the ground but this time it was by Shinzune.

"Sakura! I missed you!" She bellowed, "How are you? Have you gotten stronger? Where did you go? Has it really been four years? Is your favourite colour still pink? Do you still like dango? Did you miss me as much as I missed you?"

"Shinzune, calm down. To answer you questions… I'm fine… Yes… Everywhere… Yes… It never was… I guess I still do… Yes. Can you get off me now?"

"Oh, um, sure." She said as she lifted herself off of me. "Naruto-san, Sasuke-san, Kakashi-san. Good to see you all again."

"HEY!"

"Yo!"

"Hn."

"Well the Hokage would like you to go inside as soon as you are ready."

"Thank you, Shinzune." I said kindly. We made our way into Tsunade office and found her asleep on the desk with a bottle of sake in her hands. Kakashi was about to call in Shinzune when I held up my hand to stop him.

"I'll handle this." I said and then I turned to the Hokage and yelled to her. "Tsunade-sama! Jiraiya is here trying to get inspiration for his book again!"

Her head shot up, yelling at an imaginary Jiraiya to get out of her office, before she turned to us and activated, what Naruto liked to call, boring-Hokage-mode.

"Team 7, I see you have returned."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." We said at the same time.

"Very well. Go to the training grounds. I will be their shortly to assess you progress and see if your leaving was a waste of time or not. Oh and Kakashi? Your progress is getting assessed too. Have fun. Now… GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!!!"

Running as fast as we could, we left her office and headed for the training grounds. _'Wow. I can't wait to see Kakashi fight!' _**'Cha! Kakashi-sensei is a great fighter! He'll show em' how good he is! Shannaro!' **_'Yeah, but why did he need to improve?' _**'It's only fair! We had to improve and so did he!'**

"Sakura-chan!"

"Huh? Wha?"

"You spaced out, Sakura-chan."

"Oh. Well, what where you saying Naruto?"

"I was asking you what you think of the Huntress. She rocks!"

"Dobe."

"Well what do you think teme?"

"…She is a very good friend to have or she can be a very dangerous enemy. She is strong and always completes her missions. She is a good role model for konoichi and some Shinobi."

"Huh? Teme, did you just say you think she rocks too?"

"Basically, yes, dobe." **'Cha! He thinks I rock. Well too bad Mr. Uchiha, this girl don't like you no more! Shannaro!'**

"What about you Sakura-chan?"

"I think… I think you will meet her soon."

"Huh? I don't get it."

"You will!" I replied in a sing-song voice.

We practiced sparring until the Hokage arrived. Well, actually, Naruto and Sasuke practiced, they wouldn't let me join in. When the Hokage arrived, with five ANBU for safety, she told us that we would be sparring each other. Naruto vs. Kakashi and Sasuke vs. Me.

"Tsunade-sama, why do I have to get paired with this weakling?" _Oh, it's on now!' _**'Cha! Kick his butt! No mercy!'**

"Sasuke, you will fight who I tell you to fight, now sit down and wait your turn!" Tsunade snapped back. We all turned to the fight between Naruto and Kakashi.

Kakashi was using his Sharingan and Naruto had three Bunshin ready to attack. Naruto as avoiding Kakashi's eyes at all costs and Kakashi was fighting well against the Bunshin. Once all the Bunshin were destroyed, Naruto looked up to find Kakashi. Big mistake. He looked Kakashi square in the eyes and was so shocked that he couldn't fight back. He was pushed up against a tree with a kunai to his neck and it was over.

"Well done both of you. I see Naruto has improved but Kakashi, you have not. You are at the same fighting ability as you were four years ago."

"Well, I went on a journey along the path of light, but I got _so_ lost that I had to ask directions. The man I asked said he would help me get home but I was absolutely, and without _any _exceptions _forbidden_ to train for four years and I was only allowed to read 'Icha Icha Paradice'."

"_Riiiiight_. Next up, Sakura, Sasuke. Get ready."

"You know, I'm not going to go easy on you." Sasuke said evilly.

"And I am going to stomp you so hard that you will be eating dirt on the other side of the world!" I replied with a sharp, icy tone.

"Begin!"

Sasuke ran at me with a kunai in his hand, his speed equal to that of Lee's last time I saw him. I just stood their and activated my Zoneingan, a secret bloodline passed down though generations of Harunos. I am the last of my clan now. The Zoneingan is a type of bloodline that allows me to replicate other bloodlines. That it only level on though. Level two allows me to change my form into that of an animal to escape any trick of a bloodline, you see, Sharingan can't affect animals. The final level, which I have already achieved, requires perfect chakra control. It allows me to control vines in the same way Gaara can control sand.

The Zoneingan is basically lilac eyes with silver pupils. The whites of the eye still show in this bloodline, like the Sharingan. As I raised my head Sasuke froze in shock. He had no idea what my bloodline was or what it could do. He reacted on pure instinct and activated his Sharingan. That was all I needed. I closed my eyes once more and this time when I opened them, they were the blood red Sharingan. Everyone was shocked. No one moved.

"I thought we were sparring Sasuke." I said innocently. He shook his head and charged at me one again. My eyes spun into a lilac colour again and, as I held out my hand, vines shot out of the earth and trapped Sasuke in a cocoon of black plant life.

He yelled and thrashed, but, alas, he couldn't escape. On of my vines sharpened to a point and drew closer to him, stopping, at my command, by the nape of his neck. "I win." I whispered before releasing him and dragging my vines back under the earth.

"How did you do that?" Asked Naruto in awe.

"Remember when I said that you would be meeting Huntress soon?" he nodded silently, "Well, here I am."

After saying that, I had a quick word with Tsunade and went home for a shower. I still felt I was being watched but I shrugged it off, thinking it was just paranoia.

Little did she know that, sitting in the shadows, watching her every move, was a dark figure, a man, waiting, watching, trying to find a way to render her helpless. It was a difficult task.

"Soon, my little Cherry Blossom, Soon." He said and disappeared into the wind, his words lingering their far from empty threat.


	6. A Dream and A Date

Chapter Five

I was starting to wonder if I was indeed being watched, because I had been feeling the same gaze lingering on me all day. It was like being cut with a thousand kunai all at one.

As I entered my house I shut all of the curtains and locked all the windows and doors in the hopes that the sense of being watched would go away and, to my relief, it did.

I went upstairs to my bedroom and lay on the bed to think about what Tsunade had just said.

_**Flash Back**_

"_Sakura, is what you just said true? Are you Huntress?" Asked the Hokage quietly._

"_Hai, Tsunade-sama, it is true."_

"_This is a serious matter Sakura. Is Huntress going to stay a rogue assassin or become a ninja assassin for Konoha?"_

"_I'm not sure on my decision yet Tsunade-sama."_

"_Sakura, unless you state your loyalties to Konoha, as huntress, I am afraid you are not allowed to remain a ninja of the hidden leaf."_

"_I understand."_

"_Think about what you have here Sakura. Don't make the wrong choice." I looked at my team._

_Naruto was slightly puzzled by what I said before, but the expression on Sasuke's face was that of pride mixed with a bit of disappointment. Pride for having the strongest konoichi/Assassin on his team and disappointment that I didn't tell him._

_After knowing Kakashi for so long I didn't need to see his faced to know how he was feeling. He was puzzled, but not in the same was as Naruto. He was puzzled as to how I, Haruno Sakura, weakest member of team 7, obsessed fan of Uchiha Sasuke and the kindest, most innocent girl you could ever meet, became one of- no- _**The**_ most heartless, cold and feared assassins of all time._

"_I know what I have here Tsunade-sama," _'A great big nothing, that's what!' **'Cha! They don't appreciate us! If they did then the news of me being an assassin wouldn't have been such a big shock to them!' **_"I will make the right choice. I promise" I left, only looking back to see the look in Naruto's eyes when he figured out what I had meant. Surprise and shock. I scoffed._

'Why is everyone so surprised!?!'

_**End Flash Back**_

I got up, walked into the bathroom, put the plug in the plughole and turned on the taps. I decided to take a bath instead, its more relaxing and after a day of training, getting tackled to the ground and constantly feeling watched, I needed some relaxation time.

I turned off the taps and took off my weapons and clothes before slowly inching into the warm bath. After washing the dirt off my body and out of my hair I got out, let the water go and dried my self with a towel, leaving my hair to dry naturally for once.

I walked back to my room wrapped in a towel, to choose some clothes. Once I was dressed in my pyjamas, a plain black tank top and some black cotton shorts, I crept into bed and fell into a deep slumber.

_**Dream**_

_I ran as fast as I could though the forest, tree branches snagging at my dark purple dress and I continued to sprint as fast as I could. I had no idea what, or who, I was running from, just that I couldn't be caught._

_I ran into a clearing and fell by the side of a large crystal lake and looked at my reflection. My hair, which was once up in an elegant bun, was falling in my eyes. My floor length dress was torn in several places and I had a large cut across my cheek. Foot steps to my right indicated that I was not alone._

_I turned my head to see the person who was in the clearing with me but it was in vain. It was far too dark to make out any of the features of the person but their outline against the black-blue sky indicated it was a man. He took a step forward and I stood up, reaching to my side to grab a kunai when I realised, with much regret, that I didn't have any with me._

_The man took another step in my direction, and another, and another, but all the time, I was stepping back. I felt my back hit a tree and cursed under my breath. He took one more step before stopping a good ten feet away. I relaxed a little, but not much, at his choice in distance._

"_Why are you scared, Cherry Blossom?" He asked in a deep voice. I couldn't respond because my voice had hitched in my throat. "What's wrong" He took another step towards me. Soon he was right in front of me, close enough to plunge a katana into my chest, but far enough away that we didn't share breathing space. It was as if he didn't want to hurt or scare me, but I was on guard non-the-less._

"_Did _they _find you?" He enquired._

"_I…I-I don't k-know what y-you're t-talking a-about." I stuttered, fear obvious in my voice._

"_Why are you scared, Cherry?" He asked again, coming closer and closer until he wasn't even thirty centimetres away._

"_Who are you?" I asked, a bit more bravely than my previous statement._

"_Don't you recognise me Cherry?" He asked, "It's me."_

"_Tell me your name!" I demanded._

"_Sakura-chan, why don't you remember? I'm-"_

_**Beep Beep Beep Beep**_

_**Beep Beep Beep Beep**_

"_What? I couldn't hear you!" I shouted over the noise._

"_I said I'm-"_

_**Beep Beep Beep Beep**_

_**Beep Beep Be- SMASH**_

I slowly looked over at the wall to the right of my bed to see a dent the same size and shape as my alarm clock. Looking below the dent on the floor I saw the remains of my beaten and smashed up alarm clock and groaned. Now I would have to buy a new one.

'_In the immortal words of Nara Shikamaru, Troublesome'_** 'Well it wouldn't be so troublesome if you didn't massacre the poor thing!' **_'Poor thing? It woke my up just as I was about to find out his name!' _**'CHA! And he was hot!' **_'You couldn't see his face, just his outline, and other than that, all we know is that he is a tall guy with a deep voice. How do you know if he's hot?' _**'Well he likes us and that MUST mean that he's hot! Shannaro!' **_Are Lee and Naruto hot?' _**'NO!' **_'Well they like us! You just said that he's hot because he likes us! Anyway, he was just a guy in my dream, not a real person.' _**'Oh… Yeah. Well it's nice to have a chat about a hot guy with someone you like and respect. Even if he is only a dream guy.' **_'One problem.' _**'What?' **_'I neither like, nor respect you in any way, shape or form.' _**'Cha! And I don't respect you in any way, shape or form either! Shannaro!' **_'Argh! You're giving me a headache! Just go away!' _**'Cha! You are way too boring to talk to anyway! Shannaro!'**

After that Inner Sakura slunk back into a corner of my mind, to wait until a time she would be treated as and equal. Or at least until she could find more stuff to bug me about.

I got out of bed and had a quick shower. After that I had breakfast, brushed my teeth and washed my face. I got dressed in a red tank top with black track suit bottoms that had red laces. Then I put on a little mascara and eyeliner with a small layer of gloss coating my lips and brushed my hair back into a low pony tail to keep it out of my face. I pulled on some black ninja sandals and stepped out the front door. As I was just about to lock the door I remembered that I hadn't put on my forehead protector yet so I reached inside and grabbed it off of the table by the door. I shut the door and began turning the key until I heard a soft click meaning it was locked and I put on my forehead protector and ran to the bridge.

Sasuke was already there and so, not wanting to confront him, I was about to turn and come back in about ten minuets when Naruto would be there as well. _'Wait. If I wait until Naruto is there then that would mean double the questions in half the time!' _I thought as I headed, once again, to the bridge but at a much slower pace this time.

When I got there, Sasuke was looking at me. It was bad enough having inner Sakura pester me all the time, then this constant gaze that wouldn't leave me alone, yes it came back as soon as I left the house, but now Sasuke too! _'That does it!' _**'Cha! Hit him in the face! Make it hurt! Shannaro!' **_'GO AWAY!!!'_ Inner Sakura once again vanished for fear of her subconscious life.

"What?" I asked. My voice was cold and sharp but that was to be expected. I was VERY angry.

"Your forehead protector." He said coolly, though on the inside he was a little scared and when I say a little I mean close to peeing his pants. I was scary when I was angry.

"What about it?" I hissed with a hint of annoyance so big that you would have to be Naruto to miss it. Actually, even Naruto would be able to tell how angry I was.

"You usually have it on as a head band. It's actually on your forehead today. That's all." He replied. _'On my forehead? ON MY FOREHEAD!?! THAT'S WHAT HE WANTED TO BUG ME ABOUT? WHAT A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME!'_

My thoughts were interrupted when Naruto showed up. Apparently, neither of them cared about me being an assassin because they are acting just the same as normal. Naruto is talking to, or at, Sasuke and Sasuke is just trying, but not succeeding, to ignore him. Then Naruto said something that completely threw me off guard.

"Sakura-chan. After you left yesterday Sasuke-teme, Kakashi and I were talking and we don't care that you're Huntress. You are still the same Sakura-chan, just a lot stronger, prettier and with a different job. We will still treat you as the same old Sakura-chan. Well, now we won't leave you out of training 'cos you're weaker, 'cos you're not! You probably the strongest ninja in team 7 now. Accept maybe Kakashi, but he's our sensei!" My jaw dropped. Is that really Naruto saying that? It almost sounded smart! No. It _DID_ sound smart! "And we can go out for ramen like we used to as well!" Forget what I just thought. That's defiantly Naruto.

"Hey Naruto. Don't we have a ramen date anyway?" I asked the blonde.

"Oh yeah! When will we go? How about after training?"

"After training sounds great Naruto."

Kakashi arrived in his usual manner and the routine started. I remained silent checking off the list of morning activities in my head.

'Poof' In. Check.

"YOU'RE LATE!!!"

Naruto yells at Kakashi. Check.

"I was helping a bird that got stuck up a tree because is had a… um… broken wing? Yeah that's it! A broken wing!"

Kakashi makes up a stupid excuse. Check.

"LIAR!!!"

Kakashi gets called a liar. Check.

'_Thank you for viewing a morning in the life of team 7's own… Haruno Sakura!' _**'HAHA! That was funny! Shannaro!' **_'Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week. And the week after that. And the week after that. If fact I'll be here all eternity if I live that long. Man, I need a better social life…'_

"Team, I'm cancelling training today because I have to go somewhere. Have fun." Kakashi said.

"And translated that means: 'I can't be bothered to train you because _Icha, Icha Paradice_ the movie came out and I want to watch it. Have fun.' Am I right sensei?" I asked in a bored tone.

"How-How did you know?" He asked worried. I pointed to a billboard behind him that said 'Icha, Icha paradice the movie! Out now! Buy it while you can!' "Oh, Hehe. Well… um… Bye!" And he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

I was about to walk back home when I felt someone grab my wrist and pull me back gently. The hand let go and I turned around to see Naruto staring at me.

"Sakura-chan! What about ramen?" He whined. I hit myself on the forehead with my palm, or at least I would have if my forehead protector wasn't in the way, so I settled for hitting inner Sakura instead. **'Hey!' **_'Oh shut up!'_

"Sorry Naruto, I forgot for a second. Hey Sasuke, were going to go get ramen!" I yelled. He would think I was going to invite him to come but I was just winding him up. Sasuke turned his head to show me he was listening, ready to receive the invitation.

"See ya later!" Was all I said before grabbing Naruto's arm and running to the ramen shop, both of us laughing the entire way.


	7. An Apple, Chocolate and Crisps

Chapter Six

As Naruto and I sat in the ramen shop, the sharp gaze I had been feeling since I got back had turned into a cold glare, a sharp and cold glare and now it was a sharp gaze with little hints of a glare. Whoever this person was watching me, it made me feel uneasy, like they were just waiting for me to lower my guard.

I remained ready to fight but turned my attention to Naruto, who was laughing, eating ramen AND talking to me, all at the same time. Whoever said men couldn't multi-task obviously hadn't met Uzamaki Naruto.

"Haha and his face was all like this… any you were all 'See ya later' and then he was all 'Wha?' and his face was all… Haha!" He exclaimed doing impressions of Sasuke's face and my voice, which was just him making his voice sound higher. The Sasuke impressions were good though.

We were both laughing when I stopped all of a sudden. The gaze was getting closer, and it felt so unfamiliar yet, at the same time, I felt as if I knew who it was.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked after I became silent.

"Nothing Naruto. It's just… never mind. Just forget it." I said standing up from my seat, "I have to go. We should do it again sometime. I have fun."

"Um, Kay! See ya around Sakura-chan!" He said, gulping down his eighth bowl of ramen. I set down some money to pay for my bowl and left.

As I turned down an alley into a less crowded area of the village I head someone following me. I took a few more steps before stopping and turning around. Nothing was there.

"That's odd." I commented.

"What is?" Said a deep voice from behind me. I turned, kunai in hand, ready to slice the persons head off, when they caught my wrist. Dark hair was all I saw before I ordered my vines to push back the mystery person.

"Ow." I pulled back the vines to revel someone with dark hair and red eyes.

"I am so sorry! Are you hurt?" I asked rushing to help the person, "I didn't see- oh, it's you." I said in a flat tone after seeing that it was only Sasuke. "What are you doing here? Why is your Sharingan on?"

"I saw you going into a part of the village that has been deserted and I followed you to see if you were alright because you seemed a bit jumpy." He said as an excuse for following me. "My Sharingan is on because you attacked me and I didn't know if you would stop, I had to activate them, it was the only way I could have gotten out of a fight with you with only minor injures. You're way too strong to fight without them." Sasuke concluded.

I almost laughed. Sasuke admitting that _I_ am strong? Ha!

"I'm glad you recognised me before you killed me and stopped you attack though." He added.

"I didn't stop because I recognised you. I stopped because I thought you were a villager." I told him matter-of-factly.

"But you would have stopped if you saw it was me, right?" He asked.

"…"

"Sakura? You would have stopped. Wouldn't you?"

"…um… I have to go." I said turning away from him and leaving.

"Sakura! You're kidding, right? Right? Sakura?"

Later that night I opened the window to my bedroom to let in some air and grabbed some pyjamas, a white tank top and midnight blue short-shorts, and went into the bathroom, locking the door on the way. For some reason I didn't feel safe in my own house anymore so if I left a window open I would lock the bathroom door when I was in there and take clothes with me if I was taking a shower. No baths, so that I could be done quickly.

I showered as fast as I could while still being able to get clean and dried my hair and body. I got dressed and pulled my hair up into a high pony tail, so I could read in bed for a while before going to sleep without my hair getting in the way. Making sure my dirty clothes where in the washing basket and the shampoos, conditioners and body washes were away I left the bathroom.

As I was about to enter my room I sensed a mild amount of chakra coming from inside. It wasn't mild because the person was weak. It was mild because the person was masking it very well. I could only just sense a tiny bit of it because I had trained to be able to sense masked chakra in case of a surprise attack. _'I just _had_ to wear _short_-short today, didn't I?'_

I pretended as if I didn't sense is because I had left my weapons on the bed, we weren't outside so I'd need my vines to come in though my widow and they would be weakened from climbing up the side of the house and there wouldn't be very many because they would have to come though the window.

I couldn't activate my Zoneingan because I was too tired to concentrate long and hard enough to activate them, let alone keep them on. My only choice was to enter the room, act surprised and grab my kunai or whatever I could get my hands on.

At first sight I thought it was just Sasuke but the black cloak with red clouds soon told me different. My plan was forgotten and I started to take in his features. Long, dark, raven hair pulled back into a low pony tail. Red Sharingan, staring at me or, more precisely, at my legs. **'Pervert!'**

It was the same stare I had been feeling all week. His face was matured to an extent that said 'late teens to early twenties' and he had a line on either cheek, just below the eyes. I looked at is mouth to see it curled into a smirk.

"Why are you staring, konoichi?" He asked. His voice was deep and masculine, but it would be as smooth as silk if you could touch it. It sounded almost familiar too. I only just realised what he had said and I glared at him.

"I wasn't staring, you were, all week." I said back. Just then I thought of something, "What are you doing in my house? No, wait. What are you doing in my _room?_" I stressed my point by extending my arms, motioning to one of the corners in my room.

"The window was open. You were practically inviting in missing-nin, such as myself." He replied coolly. It took me a moment to digest what he had just said and, when I did, I was the definition of shock.

"M-missing-nin?" I asked, just to clarify what I had heard.

"Yes. Missing-nin. A member of the Akatsuki as well." Now I was scared. I had no weapons, I was tired and I couldn't use my vines.

"A-A-Aka-Akatsuki?" I squeaked, scared out of my wits. He seemed to be amused by my fear. _**'Sadist' **_Both me and my inner self thought at the same time. _'The one time we agree and it has to be a time when we are in fear of what he is going to do to us!' _It is true that I am not afraid of whether or not he will kill me. I am afraid he will kill my friends or try to get Naruto's demon though me.

"Yes. Akatsuki too. I know, scary right? Two Akatsuki, missing-nin in you room."

'**Two? Does this guy have trouble counting or something?'**

"T-Two?" I enquired quietly.

"That's Right, little Konoichi." Said another voice. This one was also quiet deep but it sounded like it had been put in a blender before he was given it. Then something clicked in my mind. I was alone, with no weapons, in a house with two very powerful Akatsuki members. Normally, this would not be a problem, but I had no energy to fight, even if I did have my weapons. I was in deep trouble now.

The first man rose from his position, which I just realised was sitting on _my_ bed, and walked towards me. I stepped backwards, to try and escape out of the door, but in doing so I bumped into the second mans chest. I looked at him and saw, with shock written all over my face, that he closely resembled a shark and was almost _double_ my height if not taller. Said man chuckled and folded his arms over his chest.

I turned to face the first man who, even though he was smaller and did not have a weird blue skin tone, I was more afraid of. He held out a hand and I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain of an attack, but none came. I re-opened my eyes to see his hand still their and a mocking smirk on his face.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Uchiha Itachi." He said, that smirk still playing at his lips.

"I'm Hoshigaki Kisame." Said the man behind me. _'So this guy is Sasuke's brother?' _**'Cha! He is scary. And he's still smirking! What a Jerk. Hey, yeah! He's a scary JERK!' **Sakura ignored her inner because she was very tempted to give her words a voice outside her head. **'Then why don't you? Cha! Show that scary jerk who's boss!' **_'Does S-Class Criminal ring a bell?' _**'Oh yeah. Forgot about that. Well good luck!' **_'Wait! Where are you going?' _**'Far, FAR away! These guys scare me. Bye!' **_'Wait! No, she's gone! The one time I want her company she leaves! Grrrr!'_

"You know konoichi, you should tell us your name too. It's only fair." Said Itachi.

"You broke into my room, scared the _hell_ out of me and then tell me about _fair_? You can hardly talk about fair Uchiha!" I replied venomously, then covered my mouth after realising who I just said that to. The man behind me, Kisame, just laughed. If his voice was put in a blender then his laugh must have been shaken, stirred, whisked and _then_ put into a blender.

"You know Konoichi, you're kinda funny," The shark-man said. He did look like a shark though. He was, as I had said before, very tall with blue skin. When he laughed I saw jaws filled with razor sharp teeth and _'are those gills?' _I wondered to myself. **'I think they are! Creepy!' **_'What are you doing back?' _**'I got lonesome…' **Inner Sakura trailed off doing to puppy-dog look. _'Noooooo not the puppy-dog look. Awwwww I forgive you!' _**'Cha! I am forgiven!' **_'What do you want anyway?' _**'To talk to you… and hang out with this hot Uchiha guy!' **_'Oh well- wait. Hot?!? He's not hot! He's evil, scary, weird and-' _**'And he's hot!' **_'…' _**'Are you still there?' **_'…I don't know you.' _**'What? He is so hot!' **_'Well…' _**'Yes?' **Asked Inner Sakura excitedly, _'…no.' _**'…' **_'…' _**'…You're weird.' **_'Thanks. I feel so loved.'_ I thought sarcastically.

"Tell us your name konoichi. Now." Said a slightly annoyed Uchiha. He was holding a kunai loosely in his left hand. Seeing the kunai, my eyes widened slightly. I gulped and my fear crept over me yet again.

"H-Haruno S-S-Sakura." I replied frightened.

"Good to meet you S-S-Sakura." Mocked Kisame. He suddenly let out a small howl of pain and leapt backwards into the door, causing it to fall of it's hinges and to go crashing to the ground, falling flat with Kisame on top. It took all my will power and ninja training to keep myself from laughing and even then it was hard.

"What did you do this time Kisame?" Asked a once more amused Itachi. _'This guy goes though more mood swings than Ino!' _**'Now THAT is saying something! Cha!'**

"I didn't do _anything_. It was her. She stomped on my foot!" He said pointing an accusing finger at me.

"Who? Me? I would never dream of doing that, Fishy-chan." I said innocently. I swear if I acted any more innocent I would had a halo and wings. **'Since when did we go from quacking in fear to mocking him and calling him Fishy-chan?' **_'I don't know...somewhere in between telling them my name and stomping on his foot.' _

It went on for about half an hour. I wasn't scared of Kisame at all after I got away with calling Fishy-chan, and Itachi was now christened Itchy-kun. It was really weird. Here I was, in my house, two S-class criminals in my room with me, laughing. Well, Kisame and I were laughing, Itachi just smirked. A lot.

"So why are you two here anyway?" I asked while munching on some chocolate that I had brought upstairs along with an apple for Itachi and a packet of prawn cocktail crisps for Kisame.

"We want you to join the Akatsuki, Saku-chan!" Yelled Kisame.

"Really?" I asked. Kisame nodded and Itachi just looked at me waiting for my answer, "Well, I'll have to think about it. Come back in a week if I haven't left by then, okay?"

"Sure thing Saku-chan! See ya!" Kisame said walking over to the window, crisps still in his hand.

"We will see you in, at the most, one week Sakura-chan. No more." Itachi stated firmly. Yes, even Itachi called me a '–chan' now.

"Okay. Bye Fishy-chan! Bye Itchy-kun!" I said to them. They waved a final goodbye and left out of the window.

'_One week. Leave or stay. Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi and Konoha or Fishy-chan, Itchy-kun and the Akatsuki?' _**'Tough choice! I'd go with Itchy-kun! He's hot!' **_'Hmmm. I'll think more in the morning. I'm tired.' _**'You didn't deny it! You think Itachi's HOT!' **_'So? I'm too tired to deny anything.' _**'Do you think he's hot then?' **_'I don't know. Maybe.' _**'Cha! True love conquers all. Shannaro!' **_'Do you know how many times you have said one of those three phrases?' _**'So? Damn Critiques! Shannaro!'**


	8. Dreaming of You

Chapter Seven

My feet were dragging behind me as I walked to the bridge. _'I really need chocolate.' _**'Cha! Well if you didn't eat it all when Fishy-chan and Itchy-kun were here, we wouldn't have a problem would we?' **_'Um… no, well Fish-sticks ate my last packet of crisps! That was my lunch for today!' _**'Whatever! Look its Itchy-kun!' **_'Where!?!' _**'Ha ha. You believed me!' **_'Oh, shut up!'_

When I got to the bridge Sasuke was already there and I walked over to him to say hi.

"Hey Itch- err- I mean, Sasuke!"

"Hn."

"How are you today?" I asked nicely.

"Shut up. You're annoying."

"Sasuke? I thought we were friends now. What's wrong?" I was worried now; he said we could be friends after I told him that I wasn't a fan girl anymore.

"I could never be friends with an annoying fan." He replied coldly.

"I'm not a fan anymore!" I told him.

"What were you going to call me?" He asked calmly, ignoring my declaration.

"What do you mean?"

"You said 'Hey Itch-' what where you going to say?"

'**What are you going to do?' **_'Tell him what I was going to say.' _**'Well that'll go well. I can see it now "Oh nothing Sasuke, I was just going to call you Itchy-kun. By the way that is my nickname for your brother; I gave it to him when he came to visit me last night with Kisame. I call Kisame Fishy-chan and, just so you know, I'm considering joining you murderous brother and his blood-thirsty partner, who stole my last bag of crisps, in the Akatsuki. That's all!" I'm sure that'll go well. Shannaro!' **_'Geez, I get it! No need to be sarcastic!' _**'Aw, you know you love me really!' **_'… no comment.'_

"Hey Sakura-chan! Heya Teme! What's up?" Beamed our very own hyperactive, ramen-loving, blonde team mate.

"Nothing much Naruto." I said glancing at Sasuke who was still waiting for a reply, "And Sasuke, I was going to call you Itchenau."

"… why?" He asked puzzled.

"He's my friend from mist. You remind me of him." I lied. I had become a very good liar. I didn't know anyone called Itchenau, and I still answered without hesitation.

"Hn. Whatever." He said.

Three hours later Kakashi showed up and took us to training. He let Naruto and Sasuke go off and spar. I was about to yell about how unfair it was that I wasn't allowed to fight too when his told me he needed to talk to me about something. We walked to a tree and sat at the base, close enough to the others that Kakashi could see their spar, but far enough away that they couldn't hear a word spoken between us. I looked up at Kakashi for an explanation to see that he was obviously having a hard time getting the words right.

I just sat and waited for him to say something and started to watch a leaf that had fallen off the tree as it swayed in the breeze. It reminded me of the offer made to me last night. If I go then it would be like the leaf that had fallen off the branch, alone for a while, lost, getting blown around every where, until it reaches the ground with all of the other fallen leaves or, in my case, the Akatsuki. If I stay, I would be like the tree. I would be losing all my leaves, or friends, one by one until I was alone.

"Sakura… two missing-nin where spotted exiting the village last night. They where coming from the area you live. Do you know anything about this?" He asked me.

"No Kakashi-sensei. I don't know what you're talking about, sorry." I told him. I was feeling really guilty for lying about something this important but I couldn't tell him the truth.

"Sakura, you do realise that if you are lying, you could be imprisoned for be a traitor."

"I know."

"You would be questioned thoroughly."

"I know."

"They would get answers by any means necessary."

"I _know_."

"And you would get stripped of your rank as a ninja."

"Are you implying something, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Not at all, what would make you think that?"

"…"

"Did I ever tell you about when I was offered to join ANBU?"

"No."

"I declined. I decided that I was much happier with my friends and family here in Konoha than risking my life with every mission."

"So? What does this have to do with me?"

"Nothing… At least I don't think so."

"…"

"Anyway, they told me that if I didn't take an ANBU position then I would have to take on a team."

"…"

"I got team 7. I had the three most interesting students out of all of the other Sensei's."

"Kakashi-sensei, I think you mean _two _most interesting students. I'm not special."

"Sakura, stop demoting yourself. You have a very powerful bloodline limit and perfect chakra control. On top of that, how many other people have you met with pink hair? You are one of my special students Sakura and don't forget it."

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" I said smiling.

"And we will always protect you." He added. My smile became a forced grin as he left to help Naruto and Sasuke out of a tree that they managed to get tangled in. _'PROTECT ME!?! I DON'T NEED PROTECTING!' _**'Cha! Itchy-kun said that they wouldn't protect me unless I needed it! And then he said that I wouldn't need it as much as everyone thinks because I'm strong!' **_'Why does a missing-nin complement my strength but not my own team?'_

I walked home after training a bit upset. I didn't need their protection! I'm the Huntress! You protect _against_ me! Why do they treat me like I'm a baby? I CAN FIGHT!

Unlocking the door, I stepped inside my house and kicked off my sandals. I ran upstairs into my room and flopped onto my bed.

"What's wrong?" I head someone saying from the window. I turned my head to see Itachi sitting on the window frame.

"Nothing." I replied.

"Okay then." He got up and shut the window before coming to sit on the bed. I sat up and hung my legs over the side of the bed, wondering why I suddenly felt safe around him. He was a criminal who killed his entire clan…and he made me feel safer than anyone else in Konoha had ever made me feel.

"My team thinks I still need protection against the big bad world. It bugs me so much that they don't think I'm strong enough to protect myself. I'm an assassin for god sake!" I told him with a childish pout. He just chuckled and lay down across the width of my bed with his hands behind his head.

"Comfy?" I asked getting a 'hn' in reply. I laughed and got up, opening the window.

"What are you doing?" He asked curiously.

"Hoping you'll take a hint and go. I need to think on my own for a while."

"Okay. Bye." He said, getting up and jumping out of the window.

As soon as he was gone I started to pack a bag. I shrank all the stuff I would need and put it in the black backpack. This included three black tops, two pairs of black shorts, one black and red ninja skirt, one pair of under shorts and some underwear. I could always buy more stuff if I needed it. I hadn't packed any of the things that I would need in the morning because I decided to have one last day to say goodbye to everyone. I hid the bag under my bed and went into the bathroom.

Now that I knew Itachi wasn't always watching I was a bit more relaxed. I turned the taps and let the water fill the tub for a bath. Once the tub was filled enough I turned off the taps, took off my clothes and slipped into the warm water. I washed my hair and body then just sat back and relaxed for a bit.

After five minuets I got out and let the water go. Then I towel dried my body and hair before getting dressed into a night gown. It was dark blue with a pattern of the night sky on it and came up just above my knee. It was held up be two spaghetti straps and was made of a silk-like material.

I climbed into bed and wrapped my covers around me before I fell asleep, only to have my familiar dream.

_**Dream**_

_I was running though the same forest as I was before only this time instead of a dress I was wearing a red tank top and black shorts. My hair was in a pony tail and this time I wasn't running away _from_ something. I was running _to_ someone._

_The person was the same man I saw in my last dream, or at least I thought he was, but this time he wasn't alone. Standing next to him was a smaller person. Another man but he looked younger. They both had a similar build and I could see their eyes this time. They both had dark obsidian eyes. I recognised the smaller one immediately after seeing those eyes._

"_Sasuke?" I asked._

"_Hello Sakura. What are you doing here?" He questioned, confirming my theory that it was indeed Sasuke._

"_I… um…" Before I could finish, Sasuke was holding me in a tight embrace. If this happened a few years ago I would have been squealing and fainting into his arms but now it just felt weird. "Sasuke, let go, please."_

"_No Sakura, you're mine. How could you have ever gone off with him?" He asked, jerking a thumb at the man behind him and holding me at arms length._

_I could see them both clearly now and I saw that the other man's eyes had become red. His raven hair was blowing in the wind and around his face that held two marks on his cheeks._

_I knew who is was and I wanted to tear myself out of Sasuke's arms and run to him, just to feel the safety that he always carried with him._

"_Itachi!" I yelled happily. I tried to run to him but Sasuke wouldn't let go. I saw Itachi disappear and I began to cry. I wanted to be with him, not Sasuke. He made me feel safe when Sasuke made me feel weak._

"_Sakura? What's wrong?" I looked up and met the eyes of the man I wanted to see. Sasuke had some how become Itachi and I buried my face in his chest, wrapping my arms around his ribs as he wound his around my shoulders._

"_Don't ever leave me Itachi." I whispered to him, still held in his arms._

"_I won't. I promise." He replied soothingly before the surrounding forest began to melt away._

_**End Dream**_

I opened my eyes and looked around the room I was in. This would be the last time I woke up in this room and I was going to miss it. I got up and went into the bathroom. The only thing on my mind was, _'I wonder where Itachi is right now…'_ and that was enough to bring a smile to my face.

'_Itachi…'_


	9. He's a Farewell present!

Chapter Eight

A small sigh escaped my lips as I approached team 7's bridge one last time, _'I should visit Ino later…' _**'Cha! Then visit Hina-chan and Ten-chan, then the boys, and maybe we could stop in Suna and-' **_'ARE YOU NUTS?!? Tem-chan is someone I would love to say goodbye to but Gaara would just try to stop me when he figures it out and he will, trust me!' _**'What about Kankuro?' **_'Kankuro's just…well…he's Kankuro! I never got on well with him! He is such a Teme!' _**'Cha! Remember when we went to Suna and he tried to read our diary?!? We're just luck he was too much of a baka to open it!' **_'What an idiot! It didn't even have a lock! You just open it!' _**'Cha! That was hilarious! Shannaro!'**

I was the second person to get to the bridge as usual but this time I wasn't second to Sasuke. It was Naruto!

"Hi Sakura-chan!" he yelled at me as soon as he saw me coming.

"Hey Naruto, you're here early." I said questioningly.

"Well, I have this feeling like something is going to happen and we wont see each other again." He replied sadly. **'WHEN DID NARUTO GET THIS SMART?!?' **_'I have no idea but we will not, I repeat __not__ give him any hints about what we're going to do. Got it?' _**'HAI!' **_'Stop yelling! You're giving me a headache!' _**'Sorry.'**

Sasuke soon arrived and seemed to be as surprised as me when he saw that Naruto was there before him but he didn't ask about it. He gave his famous cold glance and nothing more. Soon after Kakashi appeared and we went to train.

Training was basically throwing practice, sparring and running. Totally boring, that is until Gai stopped by with his team. We all trained together, well; actually, when they showed up, we stopped training entirely.

Sasuke and Neji glared at each other. Naruto and Lee were yelling about who was the better ninja. Gai was complaining about how Kakashi was always trying to look 'so cool' while said Jounin was flipping though the pages of his book. Tenten and I where the only ones training. We sparred a couple of times, with her and me winning two matches each and drawing five. I didn't have the heart to tell her I was holding back.

After a few hours of this Tenten and I sat under a tree laughing at how silly Neji and Sasuke looked. Said boys glared at up before returning to what they where doing. It was a contest set up by Naruto himself to see which one of them could hop on one leg while tugging on their ear and spinning around the longest. Naruto and Lee where taking part as well and they all looked so funny.

We talked about a lot of random stuff like training and ninja skill to who the hottest ninja in or outside the village was at the moment. When she was answering I saw her look at Neji, who was now in a very mature contest with Sasuke, and blush. _'I didn't know Neji and Sasuke could dance the Hokey Pokey' _**'Oh My God! Ten-chan is blushing! She likes Neji!'**

"Ten-chan? Do you like Neji?" I asked as she turned even redder.

"I…um…well…no!" She declared. I gave her one of my 'I-know-you're-lying-so-just-tell-the-truth' looks, "Maybe?" I gave her another glance but this one said 'oh-please-it's-so-obvious-Naruto-could-guess-it' and if Naruto could guess it then you know how obvious it is. "Yes, I do! Are you happy now?"

"Yes, but I want to hear you say it properly." I said smugly as I looked at the person behind her and smirked.

"Grrrr, I like Neji. I really like him! In fact I think I love him! Yes I love Neji and…and…" I smirked more as she realised what I had just tricked her into doing. "And…he's right behind me isn't he?" She asked glumly. I nodded and she turned even redder, if that's possible, before glaring daggers at me. She turned around and came face-to-face with a _very_ amused Hyuuga Neji. _'If you look close enough you can see, oh my god, is he…is he-?' _**'BLUSHING?!?'** Yes, it's true, if you looked close enough then you could see a faint pink on Neji's face and it wasn't just from dancing either.

"So, you love me huh?" He asked the very red Tenten, who was most likely thinking of ways to kill me.

"Um…yes?" She replied cautiously. "I-I really like you Neji…I have for a long time."

"Well…I…um…kind of like…you…to?" He confessed slowly, his blush rising until he was almost as red as Tenten's. The aforementioned girl just stood there, shocked. Neither knew what to do next so they just stood their fiddling with their fingers.

"Would you just kiss her Neji? I'm getting so bored waiting for you to do it already! We all know you want to!" I said.

He was about to glare at me when his face was pulled into a kiss by an extremely red Tenten. They both turned the colour of tomatoes as the broke apart. Lee was shouting about how youthful their love is and Gai had tears of happiness running down his face. Sasuke was just practicing throwing a kunai and Naruto was off in his own world. Kakashi looked amused to say the least.

"It's about time!" I yelled at them before turning away and going to Ino's training field, to see if I could trick her into confessing to Shikamaru. Then I would have to have to find Hinata and complete my plan by making her confess to Naruto. It was a perfect way to spend my last few moments with my friends and if they had the guy's they liked then they wouldn't be so sad when I leave right?

I stumbled upon Ino's training ground and caught Asuma's attention immediately.

"Hello Sakura. What can I do for you?" He asked kindly.

"I was wondering if I could train with you guys for a while. Team Gai has sort of crashed team 7's training." I said shyly.

"Of course. Ino needs a sparring partner other than me for once. INO!"

"Hai Asuma-sensei?" She said as she ran over to us.

"Sakura has come to train with us. You wouldn't mind sparring with her would you?"

"Sure! Come on Saku-chan!" She yelled, dragging me towards a good area for sparring. Ino and I have become good friends once again after I gave up Sasuke.

"Why did you come to train with us?" She asked as she tried to kick me in the stomach. I dodged and kicked her shoulder.

"Team Gai." I replied. She nodded in understanding as she dodged my fist that I had aimed at her face. She knew that whenever team Gai came to train with team 7, training stopped and a series of contest between the boys started to see who was a better ninja.

"Why didn't you just spar with Ten-chan like you usually do?" Ino, Ten-ten, Hinata and I had become practically inseparable recently so Ino calls them Ten-chan and Hina-chan too and they call her Ino-chan. Only I am allowed to call her Ino-pig and that's only when she bugs me.

Temari, also know as 'Tem-chan', complete our small konoichi group and we decided to name ourselves 'S.T.I.T.H', standing for Sakura, Temari, Ino, Tenten and Hinata.

"Tenten and Neji finally confessed their feelings and started kissing so I left." I told her as I hit her in the chest with a kick sending her to the ground.

"No way!" She shouted as she got up and threw a shuriken at me. I blocked it with a kunai and threw my own, pinning her to a tree.

"Yes way! I helped set them up!" I said holding a kunai at her throat, thus ending the match in my favour. We walked to the match between Shikamaru and Choji and I saw Ino staring at a certain lazy genius with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"You like him don't you?" I said snapping her out of her daze.

"Wha- No! Don't be silly Saku-chan! You know that I like Shika- err I mean Sasuke-kun! Yeah, Sasuke-kun!" She said nervously.

"I heard you. You said 'Shika' as in _Shikamaru_. _HA_, I knew it!" I said laughing and pointing a finger at her. Just then Shikamaru himself came over and was about to ask what was going on before I motioned him to be quiet.

"Saku-chan, I don't like Shika-kun!" She said as her face turned red.

"Then why did you call him _Shika-kun_?" I asked teasingly.

"I…well…ok I do like him," Ino said, "But you can't tell him!" She added quickly. I was struggling to hold in the laughter and burst when I saw Shikamaru's confused, red face.

"What are you laughing at?" She asked puzzled. I kept laughing and pointed behind her. She took the hint and turned red as a tomato. Turning around she saw Shikamaru and felt really embarrassed. "How much did you hear?" She asked him, praying that he didn't hear her confess.

"All of it." He replied in his usual bored tone but before Ino could turn away he took everyone by surprise and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Well, my work here is done." I said to Choji who just stared at me, "What?"

"I've been trying to get them together for months! For doing that you deserve a chip!" he said holding out a bag of barbeque chips for me to take one. I did and as I was chewing on it I realised something, _'Choji just offered me a chip!'_** 'He never gives away his food! He's all like, possessive and stuff!' **_'He must be really thankful for what I did! Cool! Naruto's been trying to get a chip since, forever and I got one just like that!' _**'Shannaro!'**

"Bye Choji!" I shouted as I walked away.

"Where are you going?" he enquired.

"To make a curtain Hyuuga confess their feelings!" I declared.

"Are you going to make Neji confess to Tenten?"

"Nope. I already set them up! It's Hina-chan's turn!" I told him and ran to where Hinata and her team would be training. Her sensei was away on a mission so I shouldn't be difficult to talk to her; the only problem is getting her near Naruto. So far the people I set up are on the same team! This is going to be a little more difficult.

On the way there I passed Ichiruka and a thought struck me. _'Naruto goes there for lunch everyday! I just have to ask Hina-chan to go there with me and find a way to make Naruto keep his mouth shut and BAM! Three new couples in one day!' _**'Cha! I rock at match making!' **_'To bad I can't find someone for myself…' _**'Don't be so glum! We'll find someone eventually! Shannaro!'**

I found Hinata, Kiba and Shino in a large training area doing a three-way sparring match. I waited for them to finish before approaching Hinata.

"Hi Hina-chan!" I said waving to the boys afterward.

"H-Hi Saku-chan." She replied quietly.

"Hey, when you've finish training do you want to get ramen? I was meant to go with Ino-chan and you but she told me she was getting lunch with her new boyfriend, Shikamaru, as I was coming to ask you, so it will be just us."

"N-New b-boyfriend? Sh-Shikamaru-san? When?"

"Yep. I tricked Ino-chan into confessing while he was right behind her. It was funny because I was just telling her how I used the same tactic on Ten-chan a few minuets before and got her and Neji together!"

"Y-You got N-Neji-nii-san to confess to T-Ten-chan?" She asked shocked.

"Sure did. He confessed right after Ten-chan did. So you want to get ramen?"

"O-Okay. Sure."

"Great! Meet me outside Ichiruka in one hour! Bye Hina-chan! Bye guys!" I yelled running off the find a way to keep Naruto quiet.

Later

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Pretty please with sugar and ice cream on top?"

"I hate sweet things. No."

"Pretty please with tomatoes on top?"

"Sakura! NO!"

"Why not?"

"Why should I?"

"Cos ya love me?"

"Hn."

"Ha! You didn't deny it! I _knew_ you liked me!" Sasuke's face became red at that last comment and I assumed it was out of anger, "Okay, sorry. I didn't mean it. So…will you help me?"

"Hn. Fine." He said as his face returned to its normal colour.

"Thank you!" I yelled hugging him but I quickly let go, remembering that he didn't like to be hugged.

"Hn. What's the plan to shut Naruto up then?"

"Okay! Here's what we do, you go with Naruto to get some ramen and make sure you're in the booth at the back in the corner so he can't see us but he can hear us. If he asks if you heard us before I get Hina-chan to confess then say no. After the confession I'll call Naruto over and you tell him where to go. Then it's a done deal."

"What if Naruto doesn't like her back?"

"I have already asked him if he likes her and he said yes and I asked her if she still likes him and I got the same answer. Okay?"

"Hn. Fine, half an hour in Ichiruka then?"

"Yep, bye! Thanks again Sasuke!" I said as I slowly made my way to the ramen shop.

Once there I saw my shy friend standing outside pushing her fingers together as she always did when she was nervous.

"Hey Hina-chan!"

"Hi Saku-chan!" Hinata doesn't stutter around Ino, Tenten and I anymore,

but were still working on the rest of the village. "Shall we go in?"

"Yep! Lets go." I stole a glance inside and saw that Naruto and Sasuke were already inside. _'Phase one; get them both in the ramen shop, complete. Now moving onto phase two.' _**'Cha! Show 'em who's boss!'**

Hinata and I took our seats and we both ordered chicken miso ramen. I decided to start our conversation casually and slowly work our way onto the topic of who she likes.

"So, Hina-chan how's training going?" I asked.

"Good. Kiba and Akamaru are getting a lot faster in their all-fours jutsu and Shino caught some new rare bugs."

"Cool. I've just invented a new medical jutsu for getting rid of nightmares, I thought of it when Anika, one of my child patients, had a nightmare and didn't want to go back to sleep. Now she sleeps like a baby every night. Sasuke has gotten a lot stronger and his aim has improve a lot. Also Naruto can finally use rasengan fully without the help of any of his clones." At the mention of Naruto Hinata's face burned red. "Hina-chan, what do you think of Naruto?" I asked. At this I heard Sasuke shush Naruto in the booth next to our.

"Naruto-kun?" I nodded in reply, "Well, I…um…I really like him Saku-chan but I don't know if he likes me back. Naruto-kun is so sweet and nice and I think I love him!" She told me. I heard shuffling in the booth next to ours and the next moment Naruto was in front of our table.

"Hi Hinata-chan. I…um, heard what you said and I wanted to tell you that I feel the same." He said with a fox grin on his face the entire time.

I looked over to Hinata and she looked like she was about to faint until she suddenly leapt up and hugged Naruto around the neck. He grinned again and hugged her back.

I made my way over to Sasuke and thanked him for his help. Then I walked out of the ramen shop and headed home. _'At least I did something nice for my girl friends before I left.' _I thought sadly and for once, inner Sakura stayed silent.

I walked inside my house and took off my sandals. Going upstairs I decided to take a shower, because I had no idea how long it would take to get to where ever Itchy-kun and Fishy-chan where going to take me and I wanted to be as clean as possible when I got their, just in case there where other people there.

After my shower I got dressed in black under shorts and a plain black tank top. On top of the shorts I put a black ninja skirt with a red lining. While I was in the shower I had dyed my hair a darker pink with black bangs and purple highlights. I kept on my amethyst necklace and put a black choker with silver rings imprinted on it and red ruby crosses dangling off it all around the front. I also put on some make-up that consisted of black lipstick and dark purple eye shadow with black eyeliner. I slipped on my black zip-up jacket and some black ninja boot-sandals.

When I stepped out of my house and locked the door, leaving a note on the table by the entrance, I walked towards the gate with my bag on my back; I had finished packing after I got ready to go out that morning. I took one final look at the village that I was about to leave and, with a heavy heart and sorrow filled eyes, left.

Awaiting my departure from the village were Itachi and Kisame who were, as promised, ready to take me to the Akatsuki. I grabbed my forehead protector and a kunai.

"Are you sure that this is what you want?" Asked Kisame. I nodded.

"If you do this then there is no turning back." Itachi informed me in a warning tone.

"I know." I said as I ran my kunai across the metal sheet and thought the sign of the hidden leaf, marking me forever as what I once fought against. A missing-nin.

Not too far from where I was, in my old home, the note lying one the table was moved slightly in the wind, but didn't get blown over due to the fact I had weighed it down with a rock. It read:

_To my dear friends,_

_If you are reading this then that means that I am gone. Not dead, but I am now a missing-nin. Do not come looking for me as it was my choice to leave. Next time I see you we shall be enemies and I will not hesitate in killing you._

_The Haruno Sakura you once knew is now dead and I will make a new name for myself. I shall not tell you where I have gone because you are now unknown to me and I would like it if you simply forgot that I ever existed._

_Sakura._


	10. Timeskip: I'm going, you're stay

**A/N: The rest of this story happens after a time-skip! Please read for ages!   
**

**Sakura – 18   
**

**Itachi – 20   
**

**Kisame – 23   
**

**Sasori and Deidara – 21   
**

**Rookie nine – 18   
**

**Team Gai – 19   
**

**Gaara – 18   
**

**Kankuro – 19   
**

**Temari – 20   
**

**Sai – 18   
**

**Other Akatsuki – 19-25 **

**Leader - 31**

**Enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter Nine

I heard a banging of pots in the kitchen and only one thought crossed my mind _'Kisame's trying to cook again.' _**'Cha! Last time he cooked leader had to cancel all my missions and call me back from mist to look after my boys. He must not be allowed to cook again!'** As I am the only girl in the Akatsuki I have taken it as my role to look after my boys.

Yes, that's right, MY boys. I don't know why I call them that but when ever they are hurt or sick I always drop everything to look after them, _literally_. Last time Deidara complained to me about having a stomach ache I dropped a kunai, which I had just been sharpening, on the floor to see what was wrong…the hole from the blade is still there today. For S-class criminals, they are all such big babies! Kisame complains every time he gets a paper cut for Pete's sake!

I ran into the kitchen to see a flame grilled Kisame standing over a pot that had black slime creeping out of the sides.

"Kisame! I told you never to try cooking again!" I yelled at him.

"I was trying to make lunch and…" He drifted off waving a hand towards the pot.

'**II'S ALIVE!!!'** _'Shut up! It's not alive! It's just Kisame's cooking!'_** 'WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?!?' **_'I don't think there is a difference…'_

"What were you trying to cook?" I asked.

"Salad." He replied.

'**YOU DON'T COOK SALAD!'**

"YOU DON'T COOK SALAD!"

"Oops." He said and ran out leaving me to clean up the mess.

One hour later I had everything clean and I began to prepare something edible before the boys started to complain. I grabbed a clean pot and some pasta, tuna, sweet corn, mayonnaise, pepper, vinegar, tomatoes, and onions.

I filled the pot with water and put it on the oven to boil while I put the tuna and sweet corn in a plastic tub. I put two table spoons of mayonnaise in with the tuna and sweet corn and mixed it with a bit of pepper and vinegar. Next I chopped two big tomatoes and one medium onion and mixed them in too. Once the water was boiled I put the pasta in and waited a few minuets for it to cook. When the pasta was done I drained the water out of it, into the sink, and ran the pasta under cold water to cool it. I drained the cool water away as well and mixed the tuna and stuff in with the pasta.

Once the smell of my cooking had moved though out the base the so-called 'heartless killers' ran in and sat at the table, waiting for their food. Itachi didn't run in because he was too cool for that but he did sit quietly at the table waiting, like the rest of the civilised young gentlemen in the base. **'Cha! You wish! Look at **_**them**_** instead of you dream!' **I looked at the boys and saw Kisame pulling Deidara's hair while the blond boy was yelling and screaming at him to stop. Sasori and Itachi were glaring at each other, holding their forks up in a threatening manner.

'_Oh well. I can dream can't I?'_ As I finished these thoughts the sound of growling entered the den. I looked towards the door way and saw Morokie, my white-furred, blue-eyed wolf. Behind her was Toro, my black and white tiger with red eyes, who was only a cub.

Morokie was an adult wolf that I had found in the forest on my way to the Akatsuki when she was only a pup. She didn't let Kisame or Itachi come any where near her but approached me on her own, I have had her ever since. I found Toro on a mission one year ago and, even though she is still a cub, she is strong. They both follow me around and go on all my missions with me.

I am still an assassin but now I work for the Akatsuki. I changed my name to Tomito Kinikura. I kept the name 'Huntress' for my job and now, with Morokie and Toro, my symbol had become a white wolf with black tiger stripes. I have it a symbol on the sleeve of my cloak that I wear when ever I leave the base.

I have modified my Akatsuki cloak too, so it is more to my liking. It is now more of an open jacket that stops at my ankles and is held closed over my stomach with a single button with one sleeve because I ripped the other one off. On my sleeveless arm I have a black, netted arm warmer.

Under the cloak I wear a black tank top that has a red net top over it. My lower half is covered with black full length trousers that had pockets for weapons. My belt is a chain that I can remove and use as another weapon. I have a katana strapped to my back. It has a black hilt with my symbol on it and a silver blade. The sheath had my symbol on it as well.

I now used chakra on my hair so it stays the way it was when I left Konoha and I have taken to wearing a plain black mask that covers my entire face and has a hole in the top for a high braid to come out. It only shows that braid and my eyes. I put the Zoneingan on every time someone sees me so everyone thinks I have purple eyes.

I focused my attention back on the 20-23 year old guys that are currently acting like five-year-olds. I sometimes wonder what would happen if our enemy saw them like this. They would probably die laughing.

"Hey! If you don't shut up right now, no lunch!" I threatened. Silence followed. "Okay now. Who wants the first portion?"

"ME!" They all yelled at the same time. _'So much for silence…'_ I thought frustrated. I put the food into five different bowls and handed them out. We all sat and ate in silence.

When everyone was finished that was all of the fun over until dinner. We all agreed that we would take it in turns to cook, except Kisame. It was Deidara's turn to cook dinner so I didn't have to worry about quitting training early to do it myself, since Deidara is quite a good cook himself, even though they all say that I'm the best. Kisame once made the mistake of telling me that I'm better because I'm a girl. He enjoyed my cooking though a straw for two months. The lesson: never make sexist remarks around me!

We went outside and left Deidara to sort out the dishes and start dinner. Sasori and I sparred first with Kisame watching him and Itachi watching me to help us improve our form. It worked way better than the training system in Konoha and everyone improved faster.

Sasori ran at me with a kunai in his had and I 'Poofed' away in a whirlwind of black petals. I reappeared behind him and kicked him in the back making him fly though nine trees and fall to the floor. He quickly got up and used his iron sand technique. I dodged the attack and heard Itachi yelling at me about my footing as I stumbled and fell after landing. I used Kage Bunshin and made nine shadow clones.

Two of the clones attacked Sasori head on, distracting him long enough for another three of them to sneak up behind him and hold him in place while the remaining four and the two who where distracting him attacked him with Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu, which Kisame taught me, and he fell down, held by all nine of my clones while I held a kunai to his throat to end the match.

As I got up and dusted myself off Kisame and Itachi came over to give us feed back.

"Kinikura-chan, you need to be careful with your footing, unless you actually _want_ the enemy to use it as your weak point." Itachi told me, using my fake name.

"Hai." I replied. Kisame approached me when he was finished with Sasori and told me about how I could improve the technique he taught me.

"… But other than that you did well for a beginner in water techniques." He said.

"Thanks Fishy-chan!"

"No, thank you! Itachi and I made a bet. I said you would use a technique I taught you to finish off Sasori and he said that you wouldn't."

"What did you bet?" I asked.

"My cleaning duty! He has to clean the base for the rest of the week!" He said before laughing. I looked at him and then at Itachi, who rolled his eyes.

"Kisame, you do know that this is Sunday right? And you did all the cleaning today so… Itachi doesn't have to clean anything." I told him.

"Wha- Noooooo!" he cried.

After Kisame stopped crying he and Itachi began their match. A lot of punching, kicking and crying, from Kisame, later, Itachi had won and I went over to give him feed back. I had long since healed his eyes, so sight was no longer a problem for him.

"Itchy-kun, you need to be careful. You exposed your right side all the way though the match, even when I yelled at you for doing it. Not all your opponents will be as stupid as Kisame, one of them is bound to pick it up and attack you there." I said matter-of-factly.

"Thank you for telling me. I'll work on it."

Everyone went in a few minuets later for dinner. Deidara had tried to make sushi but ended up cooking a pepperoni and cheese pizza, which was fine with us. When we all finished we went to the living room and sat down to chat, like we did every night.

The living room is dark. It had dark blue walls with a silhouette of a forest near the floor which was covered in a darker blue carpet. The ceiling is black with the night sky painted on it. All of the rooms where custom painted thanks to Sasori, Deidara and I.

I had to watch them paint every room, to make sure Deidara didn't blow everything up, and I helped with the details and designs too. **'He always did say "Art is a bang… Yeah" but he doesn't need to make everything go BOOM!'** _'Eh. It's his choice; I just didn't want the base to be charred remains.'_

The room has two black sofas facing each other at an angle to the fire place. There is also three chairs. One of them is by the door, one by the window, which is mine, and one next to the fire, in the centre of the two sofas. Two of the chairs are white and my one is a crimson colour, like blood. Also in the room are two medium sized cushions on the floor by my chair. They belong to Toro and Morokie, no one else is allowed to touch them, except me.

I took one of the sofas with Itachi, and Sasori and Deidara took the other. Kisame sat in the chair by the fire while Morokie and Toro got comfortable in their cushions.

"Is anyone going on a mission any time soon?" I asked to start a conversation.

"Oh! I am!" Said Kisame raising his hand and jumping up and down on the chair. "Itachi is coming with me!"

"Where are you going?"

"We are going to Konoha to pick up three ninja that want to join. They have recently kidnapped someone called Yamanaka Ino. Their names are Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and, my foolish brother, Uchiha Sasuke." Itachi informed me.

"Hey! Kini-chan, aren't you from Konoha? Do you know them?" Asked Deidara.

"No, can't say I do. I've heard about them though. Inuzuka Kiba, dog-nin and canine enthusiast. Aburame Shino, bug-nin and silent most of the time. Uchiha Sasuke, Sharingan user and _total_ jerk. Not a big threat to all of us, but together they could take down Deidara or Sasori when one of those two are alone." I informed them.

"Okay. Sasori and I are doing a mission in mist to gather information about a new cult that could cause us trouble in the future. We leave tomorrow and probably wont come back for about two months." I sent Deidara a questioning gaze. "If they don't ally with us then we have to take down the whole cult. Two months is minimum." I nodded my head to show that I understood. They all turned their attention to me to see if I had any missions.

"None here. Leader-sama says I'll get one soon, but none so far." They all nodded their heads and I got up off the sofa. "I'm going to bed. Have a good time on your mission Sasori, you too Deidara."

"Kini-chan, Itachi and I are leaving tomorrow as well. Home in three weeks okay?"

"Okay. Have fun Fishy-chan. Bye Itchy-kun. See you guys when you get back, if I don't get sent on a mission as well. Goodnight."

"Night." They called simultaneously. Morokie and Toro followed me out as well.

I got to my room, which was painted like a red sunset sky with trees and houses painted on the bottom in black as if they were shadows, and observed it happily. Across the walls were shadow petals that looked like they were blowing in the wind. My ceiling was painted crimson blood, like my chair, and my carpet was the same colour, just a bit darker. My bed was king sized, like all the beds in the base, and the covers were blood red with crimson pillows.

I had one black bookcase that was fitted and took up an entire wall. It was full of every book a ninja would need from information on the most dangerous criminals, which I was featured in as number one assassin and number two over all, just behind leader and right in front of Itachi, I never let him live that down, to 'How to hold a katana right'.

I had a midnight blue night stand with a silver lamp on it. I was the only person in the base with a walk-in closet. The closet had midnight blue walls and a black carpet and ceiling. The door to the closet was golden yellow and it had my symbol on the door. Morokie and Toro had a dark blue mini-bed each at the end of my bed.

It was a perfect room for me and I treated Deidara and Sasori to all you can eat ramen, paid for by me, afterwards. I love my room, after all, and they deserved it after all their hard work. I slipped into my bed after changing into a black silk night dress and red shorts and went to sleep.

In Konoha

Kiba, Shino and Sasuke had packed and let Ino 'escape' to go home before leaving the village. Kiba took one last look at the mission scroll that read:

_Mission participants: Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba._

_Mission length: As long as needed._

_Objective: Join the Akatsuki and gather information on the entirety of the members you will be in contact with._

_People you will encounter: Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, Deidara, Sasori and Tomito Kinikura. Possibly more._

_Information about enemies:_

_Uchiha Itachi:_

_-Age: 20_

_-Sharingan user_

_-__Mangekyo Sharingan__ user_

_-Massacred clan_

_-Partner: Hoshigaki Kisame_

_Hoshigaki Kisame:_

_-Age: 23_

_-Water Jutsu user_

_-Holder of the Samehada_

_-High physical strength and speed_

_-Partner: Uchiha Itachi_

_Deidara:_

_-Age: 21_

_-Specialist in explosive-based jutsu using clay_

_-Mouths in palms of hands_

_-Scope on left eye_

_-Partner: Sasori_

_Sasori:_

_-Age: 20_

_-Puppet master_

_-Puppet body_

_-Human puppets_

_-Partner: Deidara_

_Tomito Kinikura:_

_-Age: 18_

_-Trained by Uchiha Itachi in combat._

_-Trained by Hoshigaki Kisame in water based jutsu and strength_

_-Trained by Deidara in clay and explosive based jutsu_

_-Trained by Sasori in puppet based jutsu_

_-Assassin known as Huntress_

_-Powerful bloodline limit, name unknown_

_-Kills without mercy_

_-EXTREMELY DANGEROUS_

_Good luck._

"Good luck?!? We need a miracle to survive this!" yelled Kiba.

"Kiba, give me the scroll. I need to destroy it so that the Akatsuki don't find it." Said Sasuke calmly. He took the scroll and burned it before turning back to Kiba, "Look, I'm worried about this too. I did give up revenge on my brother, but I still hate him."

"YOUR BROTHER?!?" Kiba screamed. Shino looked at him and glared, "Sorry Shino." Kiba said before turning back to Sasuke, "I'm not worried about him. I'm worried about this 'Tomito Kinikura'! She was, after all, trained in all that stuff and is labelled as 'extremely dangerous'. I do not want to die on this mission!"

"I can't believe she was huntress. Sakura said that _she_ was huntress." Sasuke wondered.

"Well, Sakura had to be trained by someone. Maybe Kinikura let Sakura take over the assassinations for a while when she took a break." Shino suggested, talking for the first time.

"Well what to we do now?" Asked Kiba.

"We wait." Replied Sasuke and Shino together.


	11. Getting Picked Up

Chapter Ten

I woke up to the sun shining though my window. Morokie and Toro were already up and had left the room, presumably to get fed. I got up and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day. Once I had brushed my teeth, had a shower and dried and brushed my hair I went back to my room to get dressed. The outfit I chose today consisted of a red tank top and black baggy shorts.

In the kitchen I found three things. First was Morokie and Toro waiting by the fridge, so I got out some chicken meat for them to eat. Second was a plate of still-warm pancakes, courtesy of Sasori cooking before he left. Third was the world's biggest mess, also courtesy of Sasori cooking before he left. I grumbled to myself and made a mental note to kill Sasori when he got back. I was half way though picking up batter, which had splattered everywhere after it somehow escaped the pan, when I found a note. It read:

_Kinikura,_

_I did not cook. It was Deidara. Blame him and don't kill me!_

_Love,_

_Sasori xxx_

'**DIE DEIDARA! SHANNARO!'** I finished cleaning and ate my pancakes that were slightly less warm but not too cold.

Later that day I got a scroll from leader for a mission. I had to assassinate a businessman who knew the location of one of the bases. He wasn't being protected so it was a straight forward killing mission. _'Seven years ago, if someone told me I would be the best and most dangerous assassin know to man I would tell them they were delusional. If they then told me I would work for the Akatsuki, I would call the ANBU to get rid of the insane freak who was telling me all this.' _**'What if someone told you that you would go back to Konoha with some Konoha-nin?' **_'Depends when they told me.' _**'Seven years ago?' **_'I would say that they would have to come and get me because the Akatsuki would have kidnapped me.' _**'Today?' **_'I would tell them that I would never leave my new family and then kill them.'_

Back in my room I opened my walk-in closet and looked for a suitable outfit that would look inconspicuous and at the same time easy to move in. I passed the miniskirt section and picked a black skirt that had slits going up both sides, then I selected some dark grey under shorts. Next thing on my list was a top. I choose a black vest top that had my symbol sewed onto the back and had a high neck-line. I picked up some black ninja boots and my forehead protector. I put the boots on my feet and the protector on my forehead. After I was ready I grabbed my Akatsuki jacket, my netted arm warmer and slid on all of my jewellery, including the bracelet Naruto got my, the ring Sasuke got me and my two necklaces, and slipped out the door, locking it in the process, before disappearing into the forest on my way to assassinate my target.

With Kiba, Sasuke and Shino

"They should be here soon." Stated Shino factually. Kiba was pacing around in nervousness due to habit and Sasuke was running his hand though his hair repeatedly while looking at his now scratched forehead protector and worried more. "Would you stop pacing? You're making me nervous." Shino said to Kiba.

"Sorry, I'm just nervous. We don't know who they sent to get us. Do you think it was that Tomito Kinikura girl? What if it is!?!" Kiba asked in a scared voice.

"Why would she come? She's an assassin not a babysitter." Said a deep voice from the shadows.

"I don't even know why _we_ had to do this! Sasori could've done it and _we_ could have stopped the cult!" another voice claimed, this one sounding a bit gruff and razor sharp.

"Who's there?" demanded Sasuke.

Two figures stepped out of the shadows. One was blue and had what looked like gills and sharp pointed teeth making him closely resemble a shark. The other had long raven hair tied back in a pony tail and red eyes. They both wore the traditional black Akatsuki cloaks with red clouds printed all over it however, due to Deidara's complaint about the hats messing up his hair, they no longer wore the hats.

"_Itachi_…" Sasuke growled. Itachi just stared at the eighteen-year-olds in front of him, seeing if they were Akatsuki material.

"Good to see you remember me little brother. Tell me, if you are so afraid of Kinikura, why do you insist on becoming Akatsuki, Inuzuka?" Itachi said, addressing his question at Kiba.

"Well, I'm not afraid of her, I just don't trust her." The dog-nin replied.

"What are you doing here Itachi?" Sasuke asked venomously.

"Taking you back to the base. The leader said that with your records as ninja, and special recommendation, you can join." He replied in a calm tone.

"Special recommendation?" Shino enquired, finally speaking up and trying to lessen the tension between the two brothers. It wasn't working very well.

"Yep. You were recommended by Kini-chan after she heard you wanted to join. Don't know why she would want a bunch of weaklings like you to join though…" Kisame trailed off, mumbling the last part, looking at the tree as if he was imagining it getting pushed over by and army of flying ninja sporks and crushing the three newbies into bone dust. He smiled like a mad man and produced an evil laugh before calming down and stared at the three boys again, smirking on the inside.

"Come on. We haven't got all day and… Kisame is already imagining your deaths. Follow us." Itachi said monotone.

Two Hours Later

"Are we there yet?" Asked Kiba.

"No." Kisame replied and everyone continued walking.

One and a Half Hours Later

"Are we there yet?" Asked Kiba. Again.

"No." Kisame replied and everyone continued walking.

One Hour Later

"Are we there yet?" Asked Kiba. Again, again.

"No." Kisame replied slightly agitated.

Half and Hour Later

"Are we there yet?" Asked Kiba. Again, again, again.

"No." Itachi replied because Kisame was being restrained by Shino and Sasuke to stop him from killing Kiba.

Fifteen Minuets Later

"Are we there yet?" Asked Kiba. Again, again, again, again.

"NO" Everyone yelled, really annoyed by now.

"I was just asking!" Kiba said, putting his hands up in a defensive position.

Five Minuets Later

"Are we there yet?" Asked Kiba. Again, again, again, again, again.

"Yes." Said Itachi.

"Really?" Questioned Kiba excitedly.

"No." Was Itachi's reply.

"You're mean." Said Kiba sticking his tongue out at the older Uchiha. They came upon a small clearing and set up camp.

"Why are we setting up camp?" Sasuke asked his brother.

"It is another two day run to the base. We are walking to conserve energy and chakra so it will take us four days. If we don't make camp then we will collapse out of exhaustion." Itachi replied as if he had been rehearsing what he would say.

"Fine then." Sasuke said and left to help Kiba with his tent.

It took two hours to put up the tents because Kiba was having trouble with his. Sasuke's version of help was watching, and laughing when Kiba did something stupid. When he was asked why he didn't do anything he replied 'It was a good way to kill two hours.'

That night for dinner they had instant ramen and some water. Kiba fed Akamaru and sat on guard with Kisame first. They had agreed to have two people, one Akatsuki and one newbie, take guard duty at one time because they still didn't trust each other completely. The duties went: Kiba and Kisame from 11pm till 1am; Shino and Itachi from 1am till 3am, so Sasuke and Itachi didn't _accidentally_ kill each other with _very slippy_ kunai. On final duty from 3am until they all woke up at 5am was Sasuke and Kisame. Said fish-man had agreed to do two guard duties because he didn't need the sleep.

In the morning everyone got up and had given out jobs for people to do before they packed up camp. Sasuke and Kisame had to go fishing for breakfast, Itachi and Shino went to get water father up stream and Kiba took Akamaru to collect wood for a fire.

With Sasuke and Kisame

Kisame handed Sasuke a fishing pole and each picked a spot by the river. Sasuke wasn't very patient so after about five minuets without a bite he threw down his pole and stripped down to his underwear. He then jumped into the river to catch a fish by hand. Kisame rose and eyebrow and wordlessly continued to fish.

Ten minuets later Sasuke had six fish and Kisame still had none. Sasuke went under again and suddenly Kisame had a bite. It was a really strong fish and Kisame had to work really hard to pull it out. He closed his eyes and pulled with all his might. After a few seconds Kisame heard the fish get pulled out of the water.

He opened his eyes and stared at the 'fish'. Sasuke had been caught by his underwear and was currently hanging on the end of Kisame's pole with a fish flapping around in his hair. The fish-man dropped his pole, and Sasuke, into the water and rolled around on the floor laughing uncontrollably.

When Sasuke had emerged from the water he dressed himself and they carried the fish he caught back to camp. Sasuke had lost grip on the fish that had previously made a home in his chicken style hair but they still had the six that he had caught before.

The fire was going when they got there and Itachi was sitting keeping it going while Shino and Kiba were talking as Akamaru danced around their feet. Kisame dropped the fish on the ground by Itachi and grinned, baring all of his sharky fangs.

After Itachi had cooked the fish he served them up, giving himself two. The others looked at him.

"How come you got two?" Kiba whined.

"I caught the fish! I should have the second one!" Yelled Kisame.

"You didn't catch the fish! I did! I want the spare one!" declared Sasuke. Shino remained silent, eying the fish hungrily.

The argument over who got the fish went on for about twenty minuets but was broken by a voice coming from the shadows.

"You know, if you're going to fight over fish then you should try to keep an eye on your surroundings as well."

"Show yourself!" Kiba shouted while standing from his position on the floor. The other rose from their seats as well, getting ready to fight. The person stepped out from the shadow to revel…


	12. A Tour of Akatsuki

Chapter Eleven

The person stepped out from the shadow to revel a man with red hair and a black cloak with red clouds. He wore a smirk of amusement as his eyes surveyed the three Chunin-Akatsuki-wanna-be's closely.

"Who are the kids?" He asked. Kiba gave an indignant squeak of protest about being called a kid.

"This is Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and my little brother Uchiha Sasuke." Itachi replied, pointing to each of the Shinobi respectively.

"So these are the ninja Kini-chan recommended huh? They look weak, yeah." Another voice said. A person stepped out from the forest. This person was blonde and also sported the same cloak as the man. If this person was a man, they were very feminine. "I'm a man just so you know, yeah." He said, stopping all questions before they came.

"My name is Sasori and that is my partner Deidara." Sasori told them.

"I thought that you guys were in mist sorting out that cult thingy." Kisame stated, with a questioning glance.

"Well it turns out that there wasn't a cult in the first place and we got sent out for nothing, yeah. So we decided to come and find you guys!"

"What about Kini-chan? Isn't she still at the base all alone?" Itachi asked.

"No, we found a note saying that she was on a _mission_ and she wouldn't be back for a week. We got bored and came to find you." Sasori said.

"Did she write who she was assassinating?" Kisame questioned the red head. The latter nodded and produced a note from his pocket and read it out loud for everyone to hear.

"It says: _Dear Itachi, Kisame or Sasori,_

_I have been sent on a mission to assassinate a businessman called Mirotoki Nasatasha. He is said to know the location of one of our bases so leader asked me to dispose of him, permanently. Sorry that I'm not there to welcome you back but you know how much I love these missions. See you soon. _

_Love, Kinikura._

_P.S. Deidara, the reason your name isn't at the top is because I dislike you until I can hit you on the head very hard. How could you leave me all that mess to clean up?!?_

That's it."

"She hates me… I knew I should have cleaned up that mess." Whispered Deidara.

"Well, we should get going." Ordered Itachi as he grabbed his now packed bag and started to walk though the forest. The others soon followed suit and left. The only thing that remained of their camp was a fish, lying on the ground, forgotten…

"Almost forgot about you!" Said Kisame as he stuffed the fish in his mouth and ran after the others.

Later

After almost a complete day of walking the seven travellers were about to set up camp again in a new spot when Kisame asked why they don't just run there with chakra in there feet.

"We could make it there by morning if we just ran though the night."

"Why don't we then, yeah?"

"I just want to get home. I have a new idea for a puppet."

"I want to see my new room, to make sure it has a dog bed for Akamaru."

"I need to train… soon."

"I need to let my bugs out to rest."

They all looked at Itachi as if asking permission to run to the base. He sighed and gave a nod, telling them it was fine and they all ran to the base so that they could rest in luxury.

At the Base

They all entered the base and went to the living room to relax. Kisame had to kick Kiba out of Kinkura's chair. He told him that she didn't like people sitting there so the dog boy sat on the floor with Akamaru in his lap.

"Kisame, you give the new members a tour. Sasori, you cook lunch since we missed breakfast. Deidara, you check the training grounds for faults or stray weapons. I'm going to bed. I'm tried." Itachi said, taking the role as leader before leaving to go to his room. Sasori went to the kitchen and Deidara went outside to the training grounds, leaving Kisame to deal with the three spies.

"Okay guys, this is the living room. Kinikura, Sasori and Deidara decorated it themselves." Kisame told them, "That is Kini-chan's chair. Don't sit in it. Those are Morokie and Toro's pillows. Don't let the dog sit in them. His pillow is over there." Kisame pointed out a big black pillow by the fire but not so close that Akamaru would get burned. He left the room and motioned for them to follow.

He went to the kitchen next and told them about that room too and about how they all take it in turns cooking, cleaning and all of the other chores. Deidara, who had finished checking the training grounds and was now helping Sasori cook, then pointed out that Kisame wasn't allowed to cook EVER.

"This is my room." He opened a blue door, which had 'Kisame' painted on it in white, and showed them a small room with walls painted to look like underwater and a blue carpet. The ceiling was decorated like a view of the sky from under the water and it had a large blue bed with a white night stand and a blue lamp. He also had a dark blue wardrobe and a door that lead to his own bathroom. Kisame closed the door and continued down the dark hallway.

The next door he stopped at was yellow with 'Deidara' painted on it in red. "This is Deidara's room." The door opened to a bright room that was painted with splashes of yellow, brown and red all over the white walls. The carpet and ceiling were both brown and the bed was yellow. The nightstand was white and the lamp and wardrobe were bright red. Kisame slammed the door shut and muttered some things that sounded like 'too bright for a criminal' and 'blow up _his _room to make it black' when they came to a red door with 'Sasori' carved into the wood masterfully.

Behind this door was a room that had wooden board on the walls and floor with a plain white ceiling. The bed was brown and had a muddy brown night stand with a white lamp. The wardrobe was also brown but it was a lot lighter than the bed. The room had shelves covered with puppets and a work bench with wood shavings all over it. "This is Sasori's room. He has an obsession with puppets." Kisame shut that door too and walked onwards.

He walked to the last door in the hallway, which was black, with 'Itachi' painted on it in red, and knocked. They heard a muffled 'come in' and Kisame opened the door. "I'm just showing them all the rooms." He explained to the elder Uchiha, who was sitting topless on his bed, and the red eyed man nodded before closing his eyes to meditate. "If you haven't already guessed, this is Itachi's room." He told them, opening the door a bit more so that they could see inside. The room was mostly black and red. There were black walls, red ceiling, red floor and a black bed. The wardrobe was black with a pattern of red flamed on the doors and the lamp, which was on the black nightstand, was red as well. The door leading to the bathroom was red.

A picture frame adorned the wall. The frame was black and it held three pictures. Two of the pictures were the same as they had seen in the three previous rooms. One was of Deidara, Sasori, Kisame, Itachi and a woman with dark pink hair, that was probable Kinikura, where standing in a garden smiling for the picture to be taken. The second was of Kisame and Itachi. The picture was also in Kisame's room. Deidara and Sasori had a picture of them together in the same way. They assumed that the picture must be a partner photo like they had team photos back in Konoha.

The third picture, that wasn't in the other rooms, was of Itachi and the woman in an ice cream shop. Itachi was holding a vanilla ice cream and was smirking, tickling the woman, while she held her chocolate ice cream up and looked like she was laughing. She wore a red tank top that cut off just above her bellybutton, a black jacket and a black miniskirt with red under shorts and black boots. Itachi was clad in a black casual/formal shirt and grey jeans. He wore black boots and had a dark red jacket on.

Kisame noticed that they were looking at the pictures and asked Itachi if he could take down the frame to show them it. The raven haired man nodded his head and Kisame gently took a hold of the frame. He carried it over to the boys and showed them it.

"That one is the yearly base photo," He said pointing to the top photo, "Everyone in the base is included in that one. We go to a big meeting at some specified place, its different every year, and get this picture done by someone from another base. Hidan took this for us. This," He now moved his finger down to the picture of him and Itachi, "Is the partner photo that we take every so often. Sasori did this for us and I did his and Deidara's. One of you will have to partner up with Kini-chan or work alone. Finally, this one," He pointed to the last photo in the frame, "Is of Itachi and Kinikura on their day off. I took it for them. That was the only time I've seen them so relaxed." He put the frame back and ushered us out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Okay, let's go see your rooms then." He led the boys into a different corridor with another four doors attached to the walls. This hallway was a bit brighter than the last but not by much. He stopped at a white door with 'Kiba' painted on in black. "These rooms were all plain when we left to get you so if they've been painted then it was Kini-chan who did it." He opened the door and we saw a room with brownish walls that had black paw prints dotted here and there and a dark brown carpet. The ceiling was blue and the king sized bed was covered in grey, cream and white sheets. By the foot of the bed was a mini version of it with an 'A' engraved on the head board. The door to the bathroom was blue and the wardrobe and the night stand were black with white bones painted on. The lamp was white with black spots, making it look like a Dalmatian. "I think that this is your room dog boy."

"Wow." Kiba said as he looked around. It was perfect and he knew it. Apparently this Kinikura was great at decorating to match someone's personality. "I want to see your rooms too." He pointed at Sasuke and Shino.

They went across the hall and down the corridor a little until they got to a brown door. This on had the initials 'Shino' on the front of the door in blue. The inside of the room was decorated to look like the outdoors, complete with a sky ceiling. The bed and all other furniture were brown, as was the door to the bathroom. It was perfect for a buggy, outdoorsy boy like Shino. He nodded in approval and they continued to Sasuke's room.

They passed a crimson door with 'Huntress' engraved in a silver plate near the top of the door and Kisame told them that they might get to see it later. Sasuke's door was midnight blue with white letters that read 'Sasuke' on the door. The inside of the room was amazing. The ceiling was a perfect copy of the night sky with stars and all while the wall was a night sky trailing down into a silhouette of a town. The carpet was plain black, the same as the bed sheets and the wardrobe where as the nightstand and bathroom door were the same blue as the other door. The lamp was black merging into blue. They all stared in awe at the room, even Kisame.

"Well, Kini-chan sure had outdone herself this time. I hope you guys like your rooms." He was about to leave when Kiba's voice stopped him.

"What about that other room. Is it hers? Can we see it?"

"Well, the room _is_ hers but… if I let you in without her permission, she'll _kill_ me."

They heard the sound of Deidara calling them for dinner and went to go and eat. When they were finished, they thanked Deidara and went to bed. All of the Konoha Shinobi where thinking the same thing before they drifted off to sleep. _'I wonder what her room looks like.'_

In the Forest near Suna

"I…I d-don't know what you're t-talking about!" A man, who was being held captive at the end of a katana, cried pitifully.

"Do you know where _any_ of the Akatsuki bases are?" I asked coldly.

"N-No!" He yelled back.

"I can tell when you're lying. Your heart rate increases and you look slightly to the left." I told him.

"I'm not lying! I really don-" I cut him off by plunging my weapon though his heart and letting him sink to the floor. I unceremoniously kicked him out of my way and stepped over twenty Jounin ANBU. _'Not protected huh?' _**'Cha! He had twenty ANBU to look after him! I had to kill them too! I should already be half way home!' **_'Well it was good for a workout' _I thought as I began my two day journey home.


	13. My Room!

Chapter Twelve

I ran swiftly though the forest, the wind making my hair dance around my face. I was almost at the base. I could still smell the blood on my clothes for the ANBU. I was covered in a lot of different types of blood from different people but I didn't care. I just wanted to get home and rest. As soon as I got home I would get a double scoop chocolate ice cream cone from Deidara, just like after all my assassination missions.

My hair was a mess and my clothes were all torn from fighting. I decided to take a bath as soon as I got in. I have already forgiven Deidara for the mess he left me to clean. It was around two in the afternoon when I saw the entrance to the base and I walked right up to the door and opened it before stepping inside.

Inside the base

_General PoV_

Sasuke was in the kitchen with Shino and Kiba when they all heard the front door slam shut. Deidara ran though the room and grabbed some ice cream. The three new members looked at each other in question until they heard Kisame address the person who just walked in.

"Good to see you Kini-chan!"

"Hey, Fishy-chan!" Replied a female voice. "I need ice cream…"

"We got it Kini-chan!" Deidara yelled, holding up two tubs of ice cream, one chocolate and one vanilla.

"Do you guys want to meet Kini-chan?" Sasori asked when he came into the kitchen to get eight bowls and spoons.

"Hai." They all replied, following him into the living room.

When they got to the living room Kisame and Itachi had already claimed on of the sofas and Deidara was on the other. Sasori sat on the sofa with Deidara and an unfamiliar woman was sitting in Kinkura's chair with two animals in the pillows beside her. Deidara handed out bowls full of vanilla and chocolate ice cream.

"Kinikura, meet Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba." Pronounced Kisame. Kiba cleared his throat and nodded towards Akamaru. "And that is Akamaru, Kiba's dog." The boys named inclined their heads and Akamaru barked in acknowledgement.

Kisame turned towards the boys next, "Guys, this is the Akatsuki princess, Tomito Kinikura a.k.a Huntress." The woman 'Kinikura' threw a pillow at Kisame that hit him in the head and mumbled something like 'why am I a _princess_' and 'just cos I'm a girl' Kisame then pointed towards the white furred, blue-eyed wolf and the white tiger with black stripes and red eyes. "The wolf is Morokie and the tiger is Toro."

Kinikura got up off her chair and walked towards the three Konoha ninja, letting them get a good look at her. Her hair was dark pink with black bangs and purple highlights. The clothing she wore was all black and slightly blooded. Even though she had obviously been fighting she looked beautiful. Kiba, being the idiot he was, spoke first but the words that came out of his mouth were not the best thing to say to someone you had just met.

"Can we see your room?" He asked. The assassin looked at him and let out a small laugh.

"Sure, I guess, but I need a shower first. I'll call you though when I'm done." She replied.

_Kiba's PoV_

'_Wow… She's beautiful. I wonder if I should thank her for painting my room.'_

_Sasuke's PoV_

'_She reminds me of Sakura, but that's impossible. It can't be Sakura. Can it?'_

_Shino's PoV_

'_Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs._ _Bugs.'_

_General PoV_

Kinikura went into her bathroom and turned on the shower. She took off her clothes and stepped in the stream of water, running down from the shower head. She washed her hair and body before getting out, turning off the shower and drying herself.

She got dressed in a red sleeveless top that shows her stomach and pulled a black short sleeved netted top over it. Then she put on some black skin tight trousers that cut off just above her knee and pulled her waist length hair back into a high pony tail.

_Sakura's PoV_

'_I can't believe that they couldn't tell that it was me.' _**'Cha! What kind of friends are they? **_'I have changed a lot. It would be had for them to recognise me… right?' _**'…No comment…'**

I walked back to the living room and all of the boys gawked at me. Well, Itachi wasn't in here and Sasori and Deidara have never seen me in casual clothing before. _'Two years at the base and the only clothing they've seen me in is training or mission attire.' _Kisame was the only one who didn't stare at me _'Thank god! We have a brother/sister thing going. If he ogled me… eww.' _**'That would be weird! Shannaro!' **

"Come on; follow me if you want to see my room." I said. Sasuke and Shino slowly raised themselves from the floor where as Kiba shot up and out of the room, towards my door. I sighed. He really needed to calm down. He acted so hyper that he reminded me of… _'…Naruto'_

My good mood was replaced with silent sadness as I lead the two, the ones that didn't run like mad men, to my room. When we got there I noticed that Kiba and Akamaru were having a growling match with Morokie and Toro.

"Inuzuka, if you don't leave them alone then I won't show any of you my room." Sasuke and Shino glared at him and silently told him to stop. I nodded and opened my door to show them my sunset painted room. They stared in amazement at the inside and I shut the door quickly.

"You have two of the pictures that we saw in Itachi's room but no partner photo." Shino stated.

"I don't have a partner." I declared.

"Have you ever worked in a team? I remember Kisame telling us that you always worked alone here but when you were a genin, you must have been on a team. Do you even come from a village?" Kiba asked me.

"I came from Konoha and I did have a team." I told them, keeping any more information to myself for now.

"Konoha? I never met you…" Sasuke said, trailing off at the end.

"I was home schooled and graduated a year early." I lied, "I want to be left alone. Go away."

As they left I felt a small pain in my heart, something I haven't felt in a long time. I felt lonely. I felt lonely without Ino's constant whining and Hinata's silent comforting. I felt longing for Ten-ten and Temari's big sisterly protection against my fan boys. I even wanted my fan boys back! I missed Neji training me to use the gentle fist technique and Lee telling me about his 'youthful' day. For the first time in over seven years I felt a small amount of water escape from my eye and work it's way down my cheek and, for the first time in my life, I didn't care. I would, however, have stopped myself from showing weakness had I know that a curtain Sharingan user was watching.


	14. Reunion

Chapter Thirteen 

As a shadowed figure walked though the dark corridors towards the sound of screaming, they approached a room that had a crimson door and silver plate with 'Huntress' engraved into it. Coming from inside, the person heard someone thrashing around and was about to open the door when he saw a blue man running in his direction. Behind the blue skinned man, who looked oddly like a shark, was a red-head, they both looked equally worried about the well fare of who ever was in that room. They made their way towards the door, pushed the figure aside and entered the room, leaving the door slightly askew.

The mysterious ninja peered inside and saw the blue man holding down a pink haired woman as the red-haired male tried to wake her from her violent nightmare. She awoke with a start and they both left after muttering some comforting words. They walked past the man and the blue man gave him a once over with his eyes before walking on down the hall, muttering about 'Too many newbies' and 'Itachi's not going to be happy'. The red head, that was now recognised as Sasori, one of the men who brought the man and his accomplices here, looked at him.

"Don't go in there. Just leave her alone okay? I'll introduce you to her in the morning." And then he left in the same direction as the blue man.

The man sensed someone coming and he quickly used my chakra to stand on the ceiling. There were three people approaching from their rooms on the same corridor and he recognised them immediately. Jumping down the ninja noticed that they got into a fighting position before dropping it and dragging him into one of the rooms. This room was painted mostly blue but it was too dark to see any more.

"What are you doing here Hyuuga?" Sasuke asked.

"I had a nasty break up with Ten-ten and asked to join you on this mission. Two people called Sasori and Deidara brought me here." Neji replied quietly. He looked around the room, that was now lit with a lamp, and saw that it was much nicer than his room, that was in the same hall way. "Why is your room so nice?"

"Mine was painted by Kinikura and yours was probably done by Sasori or Deidara."

"Hn. What was going on out there?" He asked the three who had been here three months already where as he had gotten there less than five hours ago.

"Kini-chan is having another night terror." Kiba replied quietly.

"Don't you mean night_mare_?" The white-eyed eighteen-year-old enquired.

"Nope. Nightmares are scary and all but she had night terrors. She needs to be woken up whenever she has one but, even though _we_ are on the same corridor as her, no one trusts us to wake her up from them yet." Kiba told him matter-of-factly.

"Are you referring to Kinikura Tomito?"

"Yep."

"So, who else is here with you?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Naruto, Shikamaru, Kankuro and we even got Gaara to come. It was hard to convince everyone to let two demons into the base but they let us eventually. Our rooms are just down the hall, on the same corridor as this one. I still can't believe that _you_, of all people, got the nice room, Uchiha."

"Actually, we all got nice rooms, Kini-chan painted them while we were being brought here." Shino stated in a voice that was little over a whisper.

"Hmmm. Wait here, I'll go and get the others." Neji left the room and went down the corridor to the five doors that opened into plainly painted rooms in only one solid colour.

He walked past the crème door that led to his room and knocked on the grey one. A few moments later it opened to reveal the red-headed insomniac, Gaara. The two continued down the hall and stopped in front of an orange door. Gaara kicked it gently and it stayed closed. He kicked it again, only harder and they heard Naruto grumble something from inside. Neji opened the door and walked inside. He stomped over to Naruto, who was sprawled out over his bed, and shook him roughly.

"Go away mommy! I want to sleep!" Naruto said in a sleepy voice. Neji was fuming. Not only was he being ignore, but Naruto called him his mother. That meant that Naruto thought he was a woman!

"I am not your mother now get up baka!" He yelled in a hushed tone. Naruto opened his eyes and glared at Neji for a moment before throwing off his cover and following the two teens out of his room, closing the door behind him.

The next person that they were to collect was behind a green door. They could hear the loud snores though the door and only thought one thing _'how is it possible that he can snore louder than **Naruto**?'_ Naruto banged on the door loudly with two hands, successfully waking up the man in the room but, according to the glares he was receiving from Gaara and Neji, he was luck that he didn't wake up the rest of the base as well. The door was thrown open by a very sleepy Kankuro and he stepped out of his room, closed the door and followed the other ninja down the hall to the final room.

The door was an aqua colour and they all shared glances, all thinking about how hard it would be to wake the final member of their group. They were about to open the door and yell at him when he opened it himself and walked out. Shikamaru shut the door and looked at the faces of the other people in the hall. Naruto and Kankuro looked shocked while Neji and Gaara just stared at him. He sighed before answering the silent question that was plaguing the faces of the four teens in front of him.

"Trying to sleep when you guys are just going to wake me up is too troublesome. I stayed awake the whole time. Now are we going somewhere or not?"

They all made their way back to Sasuke's room and entered without knocking. Two of the ninja looked around in awe while the others just walked over to the three that were sat around the room in random spots, Gaara was to cool to look, Shikamaru was too lazy and Neji had seen it already.

The five newcomers took seats where ever there was space and they all began to discuss odd topics.

"Why are you guys here any way? Don't your girlfriends miss you?" Asked Kiba curiously.

"You already know that I broke up with Ten-ten. She's with Lee now." Neji

said without feeling. He really didn't care, they looked good together and Ten-ten just wasn't his type. They stayed friends but the couple scene just wasn't for them.

"Hinata's father doesn't think I'm good enough for her. He got her engaged to some guy from mist. She seems happy though so I don't mind. If she didn't want to be with him she would have said so." Naruto told them. He did feel sad at first but seeing Hinata so happy with that guy made Naruto let her go. If she wants to marry someone, whether it's him or not, he would be happy for her. He was offered the place of best man by her fiancé but politely declined saying that he couldn't make it to the wedding due to a mission. He wished them happiness and left it at that.

"Ino was too troublesome for me. She dumped me and started to date Choji. There happy and I don't care. I think she was wrong for me anyway." Shikamaru was actually happy when Ino dumped him and started to date Choji. They were a better couple any way.

"I had no reason to stay in Suna. This mission seemed like it would be the best way for me to leave for a while." Gaara stated simply. His father, the Kazekage, wanted him gone for a while so he complied quite freely.

"I didn't want to stay with Temari by myself! She scared me!" Kankuro yelled. Temari wasn't allowed to go on the mission for one simple reason. No girls allowed in the Akatsuki unless they were extremely powerful. Temari wasn't able to become strong enough to leave so she happily stayed behind. In truth she didn't want to go. Temari was slightly wary of the idea of living with S-class criminals.

The eight of them carried on talking, getting louder and louder. Naruto then broke the sound barrier by yelling so loud that the people in the room had to cover their ears. Sasuke then became angry and shouted back at him. This turned into a full on yelling match. Kiba and Akamaru were laughing at the thing they were calling each other, making the noise unbearable.

_Sakura's PoV_

I was sitting on my bed reading quietly to myself. I couldn't get back to sleep due to the night terrors that had entered my dreamless sleep. I never slept on missions due to the violent dreams and barely slept here either. Just as I was about to drift off I heard yelling. I sounded like two

people calling each other names and a third person laughing. The laughing was obviously Kiba and one of the yellers was Sasuke but the third person was unknown to me. They sounded familiar but I couldn't quite put me finger on it.

The yelling went on for another half hour and was giving me a headache. I got dressed into a plain red tank top and some baggy black shorts before leaving my room, making sure to shut the door, and striding right to the source of the noise.

Surprisingly, it was coming from Sasuke's room and I felt more than three chakras in there. Eight people and one animal, probably Akamaru. I opened the door fully and saw eight people from my past. Kiba, who was dressed in brown trousers and a white vest, was currently on the floor with Akamaru, holding his stomach from the pain of laughter that had stopped as soon as I opened the door.

Sasuke, dressed in blue trousers and a blue t-shirt, and Naruto, clad in full length orange pyjamas with a weird cap that looked like some kind of animal on his head, where standing on Sasuke's bed facing the now door. Shino, who wore dark grey trousers and a light grey jumper, was leaning against the wall on the opposite side to the bathroom, his head turned towards me. Neji, wearing blackish/grey trousers and a grey vest, and Kankuro, with black trackside bottoms and no shirt, were sitting on the floor, looking in my direction and Shikamaru, who was wearing dark blue full length pyjamas and was sitting up from his lying position, looked at me in question. The final person in the room, the one who I least expected to be here, was standing to the side of the bed with his arms crossed over his chest, looking towards me just like everyone else. Gaara was wearing a black vest and black shorts.

_General PoV_

The door opened to show a very annoyed woman with long pink hair and everyone was quiet. She looked around the room before crossing her arms and looking directly at Sasuke.

"Why are you shouting at the top of your lungs to some baka, in the middle of the night?" She asked so calmly that even Gaara felt a little bit afraid. Sasuke gulped loudly and answered her with a quiet mumble.

"What was that? I'm afraid I couldn't hear you." She told him, still using her scarily calm voice.

"I said that… they're new here and we knew them back in the village so we all came here to catch up and stuff."

"Those two are from sand," She said, pointing at Gaara and Kankuro, "What's your excuse for having them in here?"

"We met them in the Chunin exams and became friends." Kiba replied for Sasuke, who had lost his voice out of nervousness.

"I see." She entered the room and looked over the scene again. "What were you yelling about?" She asked, now addressing a shacking Naruto.

"W-we were yelling about… um… well… I can't remember…" He replied shamefully.

"Hmm. Well, seeing as how you guys are new," She said looking over Shikamaru, Neji, Kankuro, Gaara and Naruto, "And you guys didn't know about the noise rule," She now looked over at Sasuke, Kiba and Shino, "I'll give you this warning. If I hear you yelling like that again I will personally rip out your tongues and make you swallow them. Got it?" Naruto and Kankuro gulped while the others just looked a little nervous.

She turned to leave when a voice stopped her.

"I'm Uzamaki Naruto, believe it!" She turned to Naruto and stared at him. Getting ready to leave again another voice stopped her.

"I'm Sabaku no Kankuro." She then gave up trying to leave and listened to the rest of the introductions.

"Nara Shikamaru." Said a lazy voice, looking down she saw Shikamaru sitting on the floor with a dazed look on his face.

"Sabaku no Gaara." This voice was deeper and, turning her head from Shikamaru to Gaara, she saw that he was now a bit closer to the door than he was before but now as close a Kiba, who was almost lying on her feet. Noticing, for the first time, how close Kiba was she looked down and glared at him, making him crawl away slightly so that Shikamaru was now the closest, he wasn't too close so she left it at that.

The final person in the room approached her and held her hand gently in his.

"Hyuuga Neji, I am honoured to meet you." He said, giving her hand a small kiss. Sakura, or Kinikura as the others know her, retracted her hand and looked at him as he took a few steps back, smirking at her. She wanted to ram that smirk down his throat and make him choke on it but chose to get him back for his actions during training.

She looked over them all one final time and replied.

"I'm Tomito Kinikura." With that she left, closing the door behind her.

_Sakura's PoV_

I walked back to my room in silence, the only thing that was on my mind was why all of them where here. _'What are they all doing here?' _**'I don't know but did you see Kankuro? He's so hot!' **_'Is that all you can think about? You only ever talk about how hot some boy is. Even my targets sometimes get labelled as hot by you!' _**'Cha! I can't help it if I have a small interest in boy.' **_'Small?!? It's the size of all of the hidden villages put together!' _**'Anyway, on to a more serious topic.' **_'Serious? Do you mean that you're going to be serious for once?' _**'YES! Now the topic at hand it… who is the best looking out of all the boys here at the base?' **_'…' _**'It used to be Itachi or Sasori, possibly Deidara but he's a bit too girly to be the hottest, but then Sasuke, Shino and Kiba came, that made it a bit more difficult. Now we have five more guys to choose from but Neji's whole "Kiss the hand" Trick made him go up on the list and… are you even listening to me?' **_'…' _**'What's wrong?' **_'…' _**'Hello?!?' **_'… You are **so** annoying… I don't think that Neji went up on the "hot" list for that little stunt. He went up on the "To be killed" list if anything.' _**'… Anyway, Gaara it sorta cute in the psycho, homicidal panda kina way.' **_'… I'm going to bed.'_

Sakura had managed to get to her room and into a sitting position on her bed while her inner self was talking. She lay down and pulled the blankets around her. _'This is getting complicated.'_

In Sasuke's room

_Sasuke's PoV_

'_Man she was scary. I think Naruto almost wet his pants. I need to remember to never **ever** get on her bad side.'_

_Kiba's PoV_

'_She is so beautiful. How is it possible that someone can threaten you, glare at you and scare you half to death and **still** make you like them… she's so cool. I think Naruto nearly wet himself and even Gaara was kinda shaken up by her. Wow. She's one scary chick.'_

_Shino's PoV_

'_Scary… not like bugs… I like bugs… Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Bugs.'_

_Neji's PoV_

'_She's interesting. Very powerful and didn't swoon at the sight of me, Sasuke or anyone else in the room. Her beauty is fooling. Her greatest ally is probable being underestimated. She is pretty but by the way Kiba and some of the others were looking at her, I have competition. This should prove entertaining.'_

_Naruto's PoV_

'_She nearly made me pee my pants! She's so scary but so pretty! I wonder if she likes ramen. Mmmmm ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen.'_

_Kankuro's PoV_

'_So beautiful. She's perfect! Strong, pretty, scary, pretty, smart, pretty… did I say pretty? Kinikura… nice name but… I don't think I could like her as much as… never mind I'm tired.'_

I got up and left the room, going back to bed to sleep.

_Shikamaru's PoV_

'_She seems to be quite intimidating. By her use of words she could be intelligent also. I wonder if she plays shoji. Eh… it's too troublesome.'_

I walked out a few minuets after Kankuro and went to my bed. I reached under it and pulled out my shoji board. It had clouds painted in random places and was covered in a layer of dust, since no one wanted to play it with me. _'I miss you Sakura…' _I put it back under my bed with the intention of asking Kinikura to play with me tomorrow and went to bed.

_Gaara's PoV_

'_Interesting… her chakra seems to be at quite a high level. I wonder if she would be any challenge for me in a fight. Hmmm. This place is boring; I'm going back to my room.'_

I walked over to the open door and looked over my shoulder at the others who were still in the room.

"I suggest that you all go to your own rooms and get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a very interesting day." I then left the room to go back to my own, shortly followed by Naruto, Kiba and Shino. I heard Sasuke shut his door and looked to the end of the corridor at the crimson door, behind which was my latest sparing interest. The others all closed their doors and I entered my own room. _'This is going to be interesting indeed…'_


	15. Ramen Contest

Chapter Fourteen

Naruto woke up bright and early and got changed into a black t-shirt with netting around the neck and arm holes and some black trousers. He looked at his scratched forehead protector in sorrow. He tied it on in its usual position and left his room.

While walking towards the kitchen he saw Kinikura coming out of her room. She stopped and stared at him for a moment while he stood still. Naruto was remembering the events of the previous night and, due to her emotionless face, he couldn't tell if she was still angry or not. Kinikura simply shut her door, locking it with her chakra, and walked down the corridor. Naruto remained in his spot until she made a gesture with her hand, silently telling him that he could walk with her if he wanted.

He ran to catch up with her and they started to make their way to the kitchen in silence. The blonde loud-mouth couldn't stand silence for more than a minuet so he decided to break it. He cleared his throat but it didn't get her attention. He repeated the action, only louder but she remained un-phased. Naruto then coughed loudly and she turned her head, lifting an eyebrow at his strange behaviour.

_Sakura's PoV_

"I'm Uzamaki Naruto!" He told me, holding out his hand for me so shake. I merely looked at him and rolled my eyes.

"I know. You told me last night." I answered in a bored tone. Seeing the crestfallen look on his face I sighed and took his hand, "Kinikura." I stated bluntly.

"Do you like ramen?" He asked, hoping that I did, or that I answered with more than one word at a time like Sasuke, Gaara and sometimes Neji.

"Eh." I replied. Naruto's expression made me want to laugh but I expertly contained it. His face was a mix between confusion, worry and doubt. Confusion because he has no idea what 'eh' means. Worry that I don't like ramen and doubt that anyone could _not_ like it.

"What does 'eh' mean? Does that mean that you like it?" I nodded my head and Naruto grabbed me in a power hug. "I like ramen too! Maybe we could get some, you know, as in a _date_?"

"Or maybe you should leave her alone and let her go out with someone else." A voice said from behind us. Naruto let go of my smaller frame and turned, only to come face-to-face with the Hyuuga prodigy himself. Neji smirked at me and I looked at him and glared.

"Hn." I replied. My face was a mirror of emotionless-ness but on the inside I was fuming. _'How dare he try to put Naruto down like that?!' _**'Cha! Leave Naru-chan alone Neji-teme! Shannaro!' **_'Naru-chan?' _**'He's too cute to be just plain Naruto but not hot enough to be Naruto-kun so NARU-CHAN IS BORN!' **_'Riiiiiight.' _"Let's go and get breakfast." I said. Neji smirked, thinking that I was talking to him and was about to take my arm to lead me to the kitchen when my voice interrupted him, "What are you doing Hyuuga?"

"Taking you to breakfast." He replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why?" I asked in annoyance. It was so much fun to bug the Byakugan user. _'I should do this more often.'_

"You just said that w-"

"I was talking to Naru-chan." I stated firmly. The Naru-chan part slipped out by accident but I didn't really care. I was so absorbed by the look on the coffee haired male's face that I couldn't help but let out a smile. It was a small smile though. Microscopic.

"But I-"

"She was talking to ME Hyuuga!" Naruto declared proudly. I took his larger hand in my own and lead him to the kitchen.

Once we reached our destination I had to pull Naruto out of the way of a pot, nine knives, three forks, a rubber chicken and a doormat. We sat at the table that was already occupied by some of the other members.

After the news that Naruto and company were moving in Itachi decided that we needed a bigger table. We now have a dark brown, solid oak table that seats fourteen. Six on either of the long sides and one at each end. Itachi was sitting at on of the ends and the other was free. I sat to the right of Itachi with Naruto next to me. On the other side of Itachi was Shino and next to him was Kiba. Kiba was talking to Sasuke, who was on the other side of him while Neji took a seat next to Naruto. Kankuro sat on the other side of Sasuke while Gaara took a seat next to Neji. Shikamaru sat down next to Kankuro and Deidara seated himself in-between Shikamaru and the vacant end of the table. Kisame sat down next to Gaara and Sasori, who was cooking and had just finished serving the food, sat next to the blue-shark man.

Breakfast was, much to Naruto's delight, all sorts of different ramen. There was chicken, beef, pork, vegetable and miso. He gorged himself in seventeen bowls before I had eaten half of one.

I looked in disgust at the newly formed eating contest between most of the men at the table. The participants were: Naruto, reining champ who is defending his title; Kankuro, Suna's number one ramen man; Sasuke, Naruto's biggest rival; Kiba, who just wants to prove that he's better than Naruto; Deidara, who is now lying, passed-out, on the floor; Sasori, who is trying to avenge his partners defeat; Neji, he is just trying to show off; Kisame, who joined for the hell if it; Gaara, because Shukaku wants to beat the Kyuubi; and Itachi, for some unknown reason.

After Shikamaru and Shino got bribed into it I decided to show these boys that women can take part in eating contests as well and started to slurp down bowl after bowl of ramen. Deidara, who was now conscious and out of the competition, stared as I quickly caught up to Kiba and Naruto, who were tying with the same amount of thirty-eight bowls.

"GO KINI-CHAN! BEAT THOSE NEWBIES!" Yelled Kisame, he had been disqualified for dumping his ramen under the table. I carried on eating until it was only Naruto and I left. He was on one-hundred and three bowls and I was two behind. He stopped to breath and I drowned another bowl. Naruto was in the lead by one bowl and he stopped, saying that he was way too full to eat any more. I looked at the last bowl of ramen and felt sick.

"If you eat one more bowl then you draw and you're both in split first. Two more and you win. No more and you're in a close second." Sasori informed me.

I slowly ate one bowl and then looked at the last. One bowl stood between me and victory. I picked up the bowl and held it to my mouth, ready to eat when I felt very queasy. I slammed the bowl back and sat back in my chair.

"A tie it is." I declared and walked myself back to my room.

_Shino's PoV_

'_Someone should go and see if she's alright.' _I looked around the room and saw that everyone was either too full or too lazy to check on her so I got up and headed towards her room.

I lifted my fist and knocked on the door. Inside the room were noises that sounded like a knife and a stone. Kinikura opened the door and was holding a dagger in one hand and a sharpening stone in the other.

"Are you okay?" I asked in a concerned tone. She looked at me as if trying to see a reason other that pure concern behind my question but sighed when she found none.

"I'm fine. Just a bit sick. I don't think I'll be eating ramen for a while." She declared. Her voice sounded small and weak, like she had been crying and her face was weary from lack of sleep.

"You look terrible." I commented without thinking. As soon as those words passed my lips I thought that she would put her newly sharpened blade to use but she did something that neither I nor anyone else would have thought she _could_ do. She laughed.

Her laughter sounded sweet, like a bee's honey, but at the same time soft, like velvet or silk. I could have listened to her laugh all day and never gotten bored but, unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and she stopped.

"You don't exactly look like the hottest person in the world yourself Shino-san." She told me. I looked to my right out of habit when I feel embarrassed. Kinikura merely shook her head and closed the door, whispering a small 'I'm fine, thanks' before I heard the soft click of her door closing. I sighed and walked towards my room.

I was too caught up in my thoughts to notice a pair of jealous eyes watch the whole exchanging of words between the Akatsuki princess and I. The only thing going though my mind at that moment was…

'_She needs to laugh more.'_


	16. Little Saku chan

Chapter Fifteen

_The rain pounded on the window of my room and the blankets were thrown carelessly across the floor. My head was spinning and I needed to get away._

_I ran outside into the storm, the wind blowing my hair across my face and my silky white dress was now wet with the clouds tears. I remembered this forest from before and ran though it, getting cuts across my arms and legs from stray branches._

_When I reached the lake I let out a sigh of relief. Usually Itachi was waiting for me or was just about to show up at this point but nothing happened. I waited and waited but the only thing that I had to show for it was the silence that had engulfed my dream since I got out of the room I was sheltered in._

_A sound brought my out of my daze and I looked across the clearing. Standing on the bank, giggling whenever a lap of water trailed across her bare feet, was a small child, about five or six years old. She was wearing a lilac dress that ended just below her knees with dark purple netting trailing down from the elbow length sleeves. She giggled again and turned her hear up to look at me. Her eyes were purple with silver pupils and her pink hair reached her lower-back. I blinked and when my eyes re-opened she was standing right in front of my._

"_Do you remember me Sakura-chan?" She asked in an innocent voice, "I remember you! I remember when we avenged our parents together. I remember when your aunt and uncle told you to forget about me. Do you remember?"_

_Images flashed though my mind and I held my head to try and cease the pain. I blinked twice before looking at the smiling child again._

"_Little Saku-chan?" She beamed at my and twirled on the spot._

"_You _do _remember me! I knew you would!"_

"_Where are we?" I asked her. She giggled again._

"_In your dream silly!" She replied in a child-like manner, "But it's time for you to wake up! Someone's calling you!"_

"_Wait! Why are you back?"_

"_You're lonely. I'm lonely. I'm you and we need each other. Anyway, now I can see some more blood. It's not very fun listening just to inner telling what it's like, I want to see it!"_

"_I can't let you out around my friends." I told her. She just smiled at me and replied,_

"_I wouldn't kill them! I am _you _so your friends are my friends!"_

"_Okay. I'll talk to you soon then." She nodded in response._

"_Kini-chan?" That didn't sound like little Saku._

"_Are you awake?" It sounded like…_

"Naruto!" A voice that reminded me of Kankuro yelled.

"What?" I heard Naruto reply.

"Leave her alone! She's probably just tired!" Said another voice. This one sounded a lot like Kiba.

"I'm up!" I yelled at them.

"Come on! It's dinner time!" Naruto shouted.

"I'll be there in a sec! Go on ahead!" I told him. The three of them retreated down the hall and I hear their footsteps fade in the direction of the kitchen.

'**_Kill…' _**Little Saku was back and I needed to control her at all times. She was just like me as a child with many of my qualities, however, when I moved in with my aunt and uncle they told me to keep little Saku inside me and never let her out. They were afraid of me. Everyone was because everyone heard of how I had my revenge against my parents killers.

It happened when I was six. I had just got home from school and…

_**Flash Back**_

_A small child with pink hair ran home after school in the mist academy and threw open the front door. I froze in shock as I saw two ANBU in her house. One was wearing a rabbit mask and the other was a hare so they looked almost like twins. They were guarding the living room door and, when they saw me, they grabbed me by the arm and pushed me inside._

_Inside the room were five more ANBU. Two of them, one in a cat mask and the other in a panda mask, were standing on either side of the sofa where my parents were sitting. Another two, this time they were an owl mask and the others looked like a dog, were standing either side of the last one, who was waving a katana around in the air as if he was bored and he was wearing a gorilla mask._

"_Finally, the little one has come to join the party." Said the one with the gorilla mask in a raspy voice._

"_What's going on mother?" I asked in a small voice. I didn't trust any of them; they just started something inside of me, like my soul was suddenly hit with a spark, when the man spoke._

"'_What going on mother?' She's pathetic!" Mocked the man in the dog mask. Another spark hit my insides._

"_Who are you?" I asked quietly and politely._

"_We are mist ANBU and are here to dispose of you parents because they refuse to use your healing bloodline to help our village." The man in the owl mask told me. He sounded like he was going to regret doing this but not from guilt, anyone with half a brain cell would have felt my chakra reach a dangerously high level as another spark was set off in my soul._

_The twins from the hall stepped into the room, blocking my exit. I looked the man in the gorilla mask, who was apparently the leader, in the eye as he walked over to my father, his katana swinging from side to side. My mother's eyes widened, as did my fathers, when he held it to my father's neck. I remained emotionless, already knowing how this was going to end._

_He sliced though my father's neck in one swift movement and the now-dead man fell limp and lifeless on the floor. My mother scream but I didn't even much as flinch._

_Next he moved over to my mother, who was now crying hysterically over the death of her husband. He put the blood-covered blade to her neck and she reduced her tears to the occasional sob._

_The man turned his head towards me. I could feel his smirk radiating from under his mask but it faded when he saw that I remained calm as if he was telling me tomorrow's weather forecast._

"_If you want your mother to live, beg me stop." He said cruelly. I stayed in the same spot with my head tilted slightly, as if daring him to do it. He handed the blade to the man in the panda mask who kept it to my mother's neck but his head was turned in my direction._

_The gorilla walked over to my and knelt down to my level, seeing as I was considerably shorter. He removed his mask and looked me in the eye. His skin was tan and had a layer of grease over his face. There was a scar in his forehead that stretched from the outer corner of his right eye and stopped in the centre of his sweaty forehead. He was bald and his lip was curled into a snarl._

"_Do you want your mother to die little girl?" He whisper to me in a harsh voice, his brown eyes held too many emotions for a shinobi and I smirked when I saw fear glisten though the muddy pools on either side of his nose. "What are you smirking at?" The fear in his eyes grew and I remained silent until I felt content with the amount he showed._

"_You know," I said quietly, but loud enough for him and the twins to hear, the fear grew further and I continued, "They say that your eyes are the gate way to your soul. If that's true, then your soul is…" I trailed off to let the suspense sink in. "Full of fear." I finished and took a kunai out of the pouch on the hare's leg and stabbed him though the eye. "Or I could be wrong; your eye could just be the easiest way to stab your brain."_

_My smirk grew as the others froze in fear of my accuracy and quick movements. The rabbit grabbed my and held me back while the panda cut my mother's neck and let her fall to the floor, next to my father. A sad frown captured my face and my eyes were glazed in tears. I had just signed my own mother's death for my own amusement. The man holding my threw me to the floor and walked out chuckling. He was soon followed by the panda, the rabbit, the dog and the cat._

_I hit the floor with my fist as tears flowed out of my eyes and hit the floor. A hand found my shoulder and I looked up into a pair of beautiful cerulean eyes. I looked from the eyes and around the face. The man in front of me had brown hair that stopped just above his shoulders and a kind smile covered his thin lips. He was very handsome and I, being a girl, couldn't help but take an immediate liking to him, sure I was only six but I'm still a normal girl under all my ninja training and blooded hands. I blushed and looked away when a flash of white caught my eye. Sat to the side of his left shoulder, almost completely on his back but not quite there, was a white and pale orange owl mask. He saw where my gaze had settled and sighed._

"_I hate doing these things but I don't have a choice. It was a mission and I accepted. If I knew that they had a daughter then I would have declined the mission. I wanted to get it over with but our captain in the gorilla mask said to wait for our final guest." He seemed truly sorrowful and I decided that he didn't deserve to die, unlike the others._

"_Come on Owl!" Yelled panda as the group of killers re-entered the room. Owl sighed again and stood, pulling me up gently by my arm._

"_I'm coming." He replied. Owl looked at me again and I leapt forwards. The action startled all of them and I took their moment of shock to grab two kunai and five shuriken from the kind owl._

_I hurled one of the shuriken at the cat and it hit him in the heart. The dog and the panda took a grip on their own kunai and I ran using taijutsu and sliced the dog's neck. Next I turned on the panda-man, who was shacking in fear, and, using the same kunai, stabbed him in the stomach. The twins were standing in the hallway with a chain held between the two of them. I threw shuriken at each of their heads and expected them to fall down dead the next minuet but, instead, I was greeted by the sound of shattering ceramic and then I remembered, _'The masks'

_Looking at them I saw that they really were twins. Long faces, black hair and big noses. Their eyes were brown and I decided that they weren't as handsome as my owl._

_Throwing my last two shuriken at them, I was happy when one hit the hare it the head, killing him, and letting his body fall limply like my mother and father's had done mere moments before._

_The rabbit had dodged my attack and was mow charging at me with a kunai, which I blocked and impaled my own kunai in his stomach. When I had 'disposed' of them all I turned to my owl to see that he was in shock._

"_They were ANBU, some of the best as well!" He exclaimed. I shrugged and walked over to him. He seemed to know that I wasn't going to kill him because he didn't even flinch as I held his hand in my own and lead him outside._

"_You need to leave; they would be more likely to blame you for this, rather than me, because I'm only a six-year-old academy student." He nodded in understanding._

"_Why didn't you kill me as well?" He asked me. I smiled at him before replying._

"_You're my handsome owl and you didn't deserve to die." He chuckled at my 'handsome owl' comment and fled the scene._

_**End flash back**_

I was taken to live with my aunt and uncle when another group of ANBU found me in the morning, covered in blood and still sleeping like a baby. Everyone knows what I did after a high level Jounin used a memory scanning technique to see what happened. Little Saku was that spark inside me and she was the one who helped me avenge my parents murder.

I got up out of my bed and looked in the mirror at my outfit. The clothes had creases and wrinkles all over them from my nap and I couldn't leave my room looking like that. _**'When will I get to come out and play?'** 'As soon as I get one of my special missions form leader.' **'Fine. Hmph.'**_

I changed into a red tank top and baggy black trousers. Leaving my room and locking the door with my chakra I heard footsteps approaching me from behind. I turned and came eye-to-chest, since everyone in the base is taller then me, with the one person I wanted to kill over and over again. Hyuuga Neji.

"You left breakfast in a hurry and I wanted to see if you were okay." He said with feigned worry.

"I'm fine." I replied shortly and walked off, leaving him behind me during my one woman get-away-from-white-eyes race. He soon caught up with me and I mentally sighed. '_I could always run away as fast as I can, I'm sure he would take the hint.' _**'Sure he would…' **_'No need to be sarcastic.' **'Why don't we kill him?' **_"No." I said out loud without meaning to.

"What was that?" Asked the coffee haired boy next to me.

"Nothing." I said curtly. '_If I make my answers as short as possible then maybe he'll leave me alone.'_

"So, what's your favourite colour?" _'Or maybe not…' _**'Haha!' _'I told you to kill him…' _**_'NO!'_

"Hn." I said to him. I saw him smirk out of the corner of my eye.

"So, you're a girl of few words?" He questioned.

"So, you're a guy who can't take a hint?" I shot back. His smirk grew.

"What's that supposed to mean?" _'Is he a dunce or something?' _**'I think you should listen to Saku-chan.' **_'Kill him?' _**'Yep.' **_'Hmmm. Maybe- No! I can't!' **'Why not?' **'Well, maybe. Only if he bugs me too much.'_

"It's means that you won't leave me alone. Even after I keep avoiding and/or trying to get away from you."

"Hm? I thought you were just playing hard to get."

"Baka." I mumbled. He opened his mouth to say something back when Gaara stepped in-between us and kept walking at our pace, creating a human barrier between Neji and I. **'Lord Praise Gaara! Go Gaara! Go Gaara!'**

I looked up at him and sent a silent 'thank you', which he apparently got because he nodded in response. Neji was forgotten and we continued to the kitchen.

As I was about to take my seat Neji stepped in front of my and pulled out a chair for me. I just looked at him and chose another chair. This earned a few sniggers from the boys. This time Neji sat next to me. I didn't mind so much because I was also next to Shino. No one would think so but Shino and I have become good friends since he arrived.

I would tell you the order of seating but I can't be bothered, so I'll tell you the important stuff. White eyes, a.k.a Neji, sat next to me and Naruto. You might not think that that's an important piece of information but you'll see soon that it is.

For dinner Itachi had made roast duck with all of the side dishes. I grabbed some stuffing and filled my plate with roast potatoes. Neji kept trying to start a conversation with but the guys saved me in time. Everyone, except the baka himself, knew that I didn't like Neji very much. Naruto saved me once by dropping the gravy pot. It landed on the lap of the person next to him and made him get up from the table to change. I thanked Naruto and he said that he just dropped the gravy, no, he's not a clumsy baka, he did it on purpose, and he was just playing innocent.

I think.

_Sasuke PoV_

Neji needed to learn when to quit. He had just failed in his nineteenth attempt of starting a conversation with Kinikura. I decide to stop him this time and I threw a stuffing ball at his head. He turned to me and glared but I just looked around, as if looking for the person who threw it. He growled at me and turned back to Kinikura.

I was about to yell about how she wanted to be left alone when Naruto tipped gravy in his lap. He got up to change and Naruto moved over a seat so he was next to Kinikura.

"What are you doing Naruto?" She asked him.

"If Neji comes back then he'll sit next to you again. This way, he can't." He replied while grinning. I rolled my eyes. He was so hopeless.

Ever since Hyuuga and the others got here Kinikura has become more popular. True, she is beautiful, but with Naruto, Kiba and Kankuro all in one house with a girl that they all like then you can expect one major flirt fest. Surprisingly, Kankuro hasn't even talked to her yet and Kiba has hardly said five words to the girl. Naruto, however, has had an entire conversation with her and escorted her to breakfast. The only person to get anywhere close to Naruto was Neji but Gaara came and stopped him from making her destroy his very soul.

Shino is a different story all together. They spent time training together and talk all the time. The others and I have walked into the living room many times to find them sitting on the sofa talking.

I looked at the clock above the cooker and saw that it was eleven pm. Getting up from my seat, I stole a glance and Kinikura and left to go to my own room.

_Shikamaru's PoV_

I watched Sasuke get up and look at Kinikura before leaving and wondered if he liked her. She seemed oblivious to his short gaze because she just carried on talking to Naruto.

I heard him mention about his hobbies being pranks and rolled my eyes. She was about to tell him his and I saw Gaara, Kankuro and Kiba lean in slightly so hear what her hobbies were. Shino already knew. I'd over heard him saying that she had an interesting hobby but I didn't catch what it was, so I leaned in also.

"My hobbies? Well… I guess I like-"

"I'm back." Neji unknowingly interrupted. Everyone listening glared at him, including me. "Did I interrupt something?"

"YES!" Yelled Naruto, Kiba and Kankuro. Itachi looked at them and raised an eyebrow but before he could say anything, Sasori voiced his question.

"What did he interrupt exactly?"

"Kini-chan was about to tell us her hobbies." Naruto informed the older men at the other end of the table. Deidara chuckled slightly at the desperation for the knowledge in Naruto's voice and Kisame just looked at him blankly.

"She likes some board game. What was it called again? Seiko? Shiny?" The shark-man informed/asked.

"Shoji." She said bluntly. My eyebrows shot up at her response. "It's not my only hobby, but I do play it with Itachi sometimes. He won't play it with me anymore though, it's just because I always win." She told us, chuckling slightly about Itachi losing every game.

After another two hours everyone had finished eating and was just sitting around talking. Kinikura got up and left, saying something about going to her room to meditate. I left five minuets after so no one would get suspicious.

Once I was in my room I felt under my bed for the shoji board and pulled it out. After getting all of the dust off of it I left my room and went to Kinikura's door. I stood, fidgeting slightly, worried that she wouldn't want to play and I would need to play Naruto again.

I knocked and waited. I heard some sheets shifting and then her light footsteps approaching the door. _'Did I wake her up?'_ She opened the door and looked at me with a questioning gaze. I held the board up and tried to ask her to play but each attempt was futile and came out sounding something like 'shoji is a board.' Or 'board, here, shoji, me? You?'

She laughed and looked at me with her dazzling emerald eyes. I sighed and was about to give up and go back to my room when she grabbed the board out of my hands. I was the one sending a questioning gaze this time and she just dismissed it with a laugh.

"Do you want to play shoji by any chance?" I sighed and nodded in response. She smiled and told me to come in. I entered the room, oblivious to the jealous gaze laid upon the scene. The only thought going though my mind was:

'_Finally, someone to play shoji with.'_

_Jealous gaze's PoV_

I was officially ready to rip out Shikamaru's spleen and make him eat it. How dare he flirt with _my _Kinikura? Well, okay, so stuttering live an idiot doesn't really count as flirting but he should still know that he doesn't stand a chance with her.

I felt a presence behind me and I turned to face the annoying brunette with purple face paint. He also looked upon this scene and scoffed.

"Are you jealous? Of Shikamaru?" He asked me.

"Hn. No of course not." I replied.

"Whatever. Didn't you say that you were going to bed?"

"Hn."

"I caught you spying on her and Shino's conversation this morning too."

"So?"

"You're jealous." He stated smugly.

"I'm not. Go away."

"Fine. Just don't let her catch you-"


	17. Ice cream and Names!

Chapter Sixteen

I cut Kankuro off by raising my hand before he could finish his sentence. _'Shikamaru better not like her or he'll wake up in the middle of a sandstorm, very confused'_ I thought. My jade eyes swept over the now-closed door of Kinikura's room, _'She looks so much like…'_ I left my thoughts to trail after me as I left to go to my room.

_Sakura's PoV_

It had been three weeks since the 'new' newbies got here and Shikamaru and I play shoji every Sunday when were not busy with missions or training. He's winning over all by one game. The scores are; me with twenty-six, him with twenty-seven and we've draw nine. I keep thinking that we were being watched, or more accurately, I'm being watched, whenever I'm with one of my new, and now best, friends. I was talking with Shino last night in the living room and I could see the glare directed at him. Then when I was with Naruto the gaze was on my back the whole time. It was creepy.

The only times it happens is when I'm with Shikamaru, Shino or Naruto. It has never happened with any of the original members, Sasuke, Neji, Kiba, Kankuro or Gaara. I think its Neji, because he still won't leave me alone, but he stares at me all the time and the gazes feel different. Next on my list was Sasuke but he doesn't really seem like the type to glare daggers at Shino when we were discussing the fastest type of bug on the planet fifty thousand years ago, but I could be wrong. That still leaves all of my boys, Kiba, Kankuro or Gaara.

So my list goes in order of suspicion:

-Neji (Even though it doesn't feel like him, it could be)

-Kiba (Maybe)

-Sasuke (He does seem to hang around me a lot lately)

-Kisame (It could just be a big brother protection glare if it is him)

-Sasori (Possibly)

-Deidara (Were best friends!)

-Itachi (…)

-Gaara (As if!)

A knock on my door broke me out of my thoughts and I went to open it.

Neji's PoV

I knocked on Kinikura's door to ask if she wanted to train with me and waited while she got up to open it. When the door slid open I unknowingly stared.

She was wearing a red spaghetti strap top that cuts off just above her belly button and a black skirt that stopped a few centimetres above the knee. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and she had a look of shear annoyance painted on her face.

"What?" She asked venomously.

"I was wondering if you wanted to train with me." I replied.

"No." Kinikura began to shut the door but I put my foot in the space between the crimson wood and the black frame. Apparently she didn't want to train but I could still talk with her for a while. "What do you want _now_?"

"Why don't we talk for a while then?" I asked hopefully.

"No." The same answer escaped her mouth. Her lips looked so inviting when she spoke.

I wanted to ask her to play shoji with me but I was interrupted by an unwanted presence behind me.

_Gaara's PoV_

I was walking down the hall way and I saw Neji going up to Kinikura's room. Waiting, more like hiding, on the ceiling with my chakra I listened to their conversation.

"…train with me." I heard him say.

"No." She replied shutting the door. He put his foot in the way and she had to open her door further. "_What do you want_?" she asked with obvious distain lacing her words. I smirked at her desperation to get away from the persistent prodigy.

"Why don't we talk for a while then?" This guy just doesn't know when to give up!

I had heard enough and I didn't hear her decline before I jumped down and walked up behind the Hyuuga.

_Sakura's PoV_

I saw Gaara coming out of nowhere and walk up behind White-eyes. He tapped his shoulder and Neji turned around.

"Can I help you?" Asked the mud headed man.

"Leave her alone." He replied in a bored tone. 'Is he defending us?' **'Cha! True love conquers all!' **_'True love? Since when do I love him?' **'I would love to see his blood.' **'It's not the same thing Little Saku.' **'Oh.'**_

"Why should I?" Neji demanded roughly. Gaara looked towards me and then back to Neji before replying.

"You're such a baka. She doesn't like you so leave her alone."

_Gaara's PoV_

"You're such a baka. She doesn't like you so leave her alone." After I said these words he glared at me and turned back to Kinikura. Whispering something in her ear, that made her cringe slightly out of discomfort, he turned on his heal and left.

I turned back to her face and saw that she was now deep in thought about something. My first option was to leave her alone but I didn't know if Neji would come back as soon as I left, and I wanted to know what he said to her, so I decided to break her from her train of thought and ask the question that was now piercing though my mind like a kunai that has been sharpened to it's sharpest point.

_Sakura's PoV_

I was thinking about what Neji had just said when a cough awakened me from my morbid thoughts. Looking up, I curse the fact that I am so short right now, and I saw that Gaara was still residing in the same spot as he was when he got rid of Neji for me.

Normally I would love the fact that no one was talking and wallow in the blissful silence but normally, silence wasn't this awkward. Deciding to break the deadly quietness between our two forms I spoke, but only in a quiet voice.

"Um… Thanks for… you know." I said, hoping that he wouldn't pry into my business and ask-

"What did he say to you?" –Never mind. _'What happened to the 'quiet factor' of all these people!?! Does joining the Akatsuki mean that you become more talkative?!? Neji is meant to be anti-social, not, I repeat, _NOT_, meant to be all "Let's have a chat" or "Let's spar together". Sasuke is supposed to be stoic and not trying to be my friend, maybe more if he's the one who's been staring at me, and Gaara-' _**'Gaara is supposed to hate talking to, and being with,****people all together, not-' **_'Asking me questions about my business!'_

"Kinikura." A voice stopped my conversation with my 'inner' and I looked at Gaara, who was still waiting for an answer to his previous question.

"What do you mean?" I asked dumbly.

"Hyuuga. What did he just say to you?"

"He didn't say anything at all Gaara-san." I replied innocently.

"Hn. Tell me. Now." He demanded in an icy, cold tone.

"There's nothing to tell! He didn't say anything!" I was about to slam my door what a wave of sand slipped over my wrist and held it tight. It took all my will not to scream in terror as I remembered when this sand had almost killed me. It was still too tight and I couldn't help but wince slightly. Gaara must have noticed this because the sand loosened a bit, but still didn't let go.

"Don't lie to me. What did he say?" He pulled me forward so my face wasn't hidden half behind the door anymore and looked my right in the eye. Emerald met jade and I my stomach felt weird but I dismissed it as a mix of fear and hunger since I skipped breakfast this morning.

"I-I… I don't want to talk about it." I said sadly with my eyes down cast to the floor and my bangs hiding my face. He released the sands grip and I thought that he would just leave, but he didn't.

I felt his hand on my chin as he lifted my face so he could see, once again, into my eyes. The fear of him inside me was minimal but still there so I couldn't bare the amount of time I've had with perfect eye contact with the red haired sand-man.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you." He said quietly. I was shocked to say the least. Gaara being gentle was one thing, but_ apologising_? I must be dreaming! "Do you like ice cream?" The question came quickly and bluntly. I didn't know why he wanted to know but I didn't see the point in lying to him, or anyone, about the fact that I like ice cream. Most people already know anyway. Itachi and Kisame defiantly know. I nodded my head in answer. "Good. I'm taking you out to get some ice cream to make it up to you. Meet me in the living room in one hour." He turned to but stopped and gave me a side long glance. "I suggest that you change your clothes as well." He advised me with a smirk and disappeared down the hall way.

Looking down at my outfit, I could see what he had meant. I was wearing a low-cut top and a short skirt. Walking back into my room and closing the door, I stepped into my walk-in wardrobe and selected some clothes so that I could go and get some ice cream with Gaara. _'Wait. Ice cream? With Gaara?!' _**'Weird'** I nodded, for once agreeing with my inner self, and picked out some clothing to wear.

_Gaara's PoV_

I have no idea why I asked her to go out to eat ice cream with me. **'Because you like her.' **_'Who are you? What are you doing in my head?!' _**'Easy there "oh smart one". It's me, Shukaku.' **_'Oh right… yeah… I forgot that I'm playing "House" to an evil, idiotic demon who wants nothing more than to see blood of innocents smeared across this base.' _**'There are three things wrong with your statement.' **_'Hn.' _**One, you're not "Playing House" you're a vessel.' **_'Hn.' _**'Second, I'm NOT idiotic.' **_'Hn.' _**'And third, I have other interests.' **_'Like what?' _**'That girl- Kinikura- She had a blood lust inside her some where. I could just feel it. I am interested in HER.'**_ '…hn.'_

I waited for about half an hour in the silence that had become real when Shukaku quietened down this silence, however, was short lived. **'I just realised something…' **_'What?'_** 'You didn't deny that you like that girl.' **_'Hn.' _**'You know it would never work anyway.' **_'Why not?' _**'She is the "Akatsuki princess" and you are a spy for Konoha and Suna.' **_'So?' _**'You can't like her.' **_'What am I supposed to do? Say "Sorry, I can't take you out for ice cream because I'm a spy for both the hidden sand and leaf villages, but don't tell anyone though, anyway, it was nice talking to you, bye." What do you think her reaction would be to that?' _**'I don't know. Why don't you ask her?' **_'What are you on about now?' _**'Ask her. She's right in front of you now anyway.'**

I vaguely registered what Shukaku had said before turning my attention to the woman in front of me. She her normal black Akatsuki outfit and had a red ribbon tied around her right arm. It was odd and the fact that Itachi, Sasori, Deidara and Kisame also had a red ribbon tied to themselves somewhere clicked in my mind but I decided not to question her about it. Soon realising that she was already walking outside, I quickly followed. Not running but not to slow.

I myself was wearing the regular Akatsuki outfit, minis the cloak, and had my forehead protector tied around my right arm. We grabbed our cloaks, slid them on and walked out of the door. I felt as if I was being watched and I turned back to see Neji glaring at me though a window.

"I'll be right back, just one minuet." I said to Kinikura and walked back inside with a growing smirk plastered to my face. Neji was sitting in the living room with Morokie and Toro growling at him. It seemed that they also disliked him for the grief that he had laid upon theirs mistresses shoulders, but then again, they hated almost everyone.

They moved out of my way, snarling at me a little on their way past, and walked outside to Kinikura. The Hyuuga turned his head towards me and glared.

"What are you doing with _my_ Girl Sabaku?" He queried whilst surveying my calm exterior.

"I didn't realise that _anyone_ had claimed her." I replied, stressing the word 'anyone' to show that she wasn't owned at all.

"Hn, Whatever. Just stay away from her or else." He left the room. The threat he had used still lingered on my mind but all thoughts disappeared when Toro ran into the room and nudged my leg. I was about to scowl at the animal for bugging me without purpose when I remembered that Kinikura was still waiting for me outside.

I walked out to her and we made our way into town. On the way, many people shielded their children from view and ran as far away from us as possible. By the look in Kinikura's eyes I could tell that she was used to this, but still hated every minuet of in.

As the ice cream parlour came into our sights we started in its direction. Inside, we received hidden glares and terrified looks form the people around us. Kinikura didn't deserve this. She was just one ninja doing her job. Most of these people didn't even know whether or not she had killed, which she had, and yet they still hated her.

"What flavour do you want?" I asked her. She looked up at me and silently told me that she didn't want to be here and I understood. We both left and went into one of the alleys by the side of the ice cream shop. "You okay?" I asked her. She nodded.

"I think we should use Henge and change our appearance before we go in again." I nodded in agreement and did the hand seals to use Henge.

The next moment I was a man with hair just like Itachi's except it was brown and blue eyes. I was wearing a green vest top and dark blue full-length trousers with ninja black sandals.

Kinikura was also a brunette but her hair was in low bunches that reached her elbows. Her eyes were dark brown and she was wearing a dark purple tank top with lilac vines embroidered around it and a dark blue skirt that went down just below her knees. She was wearing healed blue ninja sandals and the red ribbon was now holding one of her bunches while another ribbon, this on was light purple, held the other.

We re-entered the ice cream shop and, this time, where greeted by smiles and the occasional 'good afternoon sir/madam'. This just showed how prejudice the world can be. '_Two Akatsuki walk in, they know nothing other than the fact they are Akatsuki and they shun and/or hate them automatically. A regular ninja couple walks in and everyone is all "Smiles and Sunshine" it's disgusting.' _**'HAHAHAHAHAHA!' **_'What?' _**'Think about what you just said!' **_'Smiles and sunshine?' _**'No the other bit.' **_'…'_** 'A regular ninja couple.' **_'So?' _**'A regular ninja _couple_.' **_'…I didn't mean it like that!' _**'Sure you didn't.'**

"What flavour would you like?" I asked Kinikura again.

"Chocolate please." She told me. I motioned for her to go and sit down and I would get the ice creams and pay. Once I got to the front of the line I told the person in front of me that I wanted two chocolate double scoop ice creams and he sped away to for fill the order.

When he came back we traded the money for the ice creams and I went to sit back with Kinikura. I handed her, her ice cream and she gave me a grateful nod.

We were both silently eating our treat and finished in about five minuets. Going outside, I discovered that I was actually having fun hanging out with Kinikura and we went home.

Once we arrived we took off our Henge and went to our separate rooms, seeing as it was already midnight when we got back, and went to bed. I still couldn't sleep but now it was for more than one reason. I couldn't stop thinking about Kinikura. _'She reminds me so much of… ah never mind. I'm going to go for a walk.'_

_Sakura's PoV_

'_Gaara was so kind today.' _**'Yeah, it was kinda creepy.'**_ 'No, it wasn't creepy. It was nice.' **'I like him.' **'You like _him_ or his blood?' **'Him.' **'Why?' **'There's something inside of him that makes me curious. I want to find out more about him. That and, I just like him. Plain and simple.'**_

I ignored the argument between little and inner Sakura about whether Gaara was more hot that interesting or more interesting than hot. Just before I fell asleep, I though over Neji's words again.

"_You can't hide from me forever Kini-_chan_. I always get what I want, and what I want is you."_

I shivered, but for two reasons. One, because Neji's words really creped me out and two because I'm being watched again. I fell on my bed and drifted into a sleeping haven, free from all the stares, glares and coffee-haired prodigies.

_Gazer's PoV_

I watched her again and felt the same presence behind me as the last time I had been caught.

"You have _really_ got to stop spying on her." Kankuro informed me.

"Hn."

"You're going to get caught sooner or later you know."

"Hn."

"Fine, whatever." He stared to walk away but turned back to me to say one thing.

"Night… Gaara."


	18. Day of Love and WHAT'S THIS!

Chapter Seventeen

The sunlight spilled though the window and hit my face, causing me to wake up, grumbling plans of revenge against the sun. I was about to go into the bathroom when I hear crashes and yells outside my room. I threw open my door to reveal Naruto and Kiba fighting and two bouquets of roses sat by the wall by my door. They were throwing punches and kicks at each other and, whether or not they deserved this for whatever they did to each other, they were outside my room and I wanted quiet. The only way to get that is to stop the two boys from killing each other. _**'…' **'I will not let them kill each other for the entertainment.' **'Fun crusher…' **'Sadist…' _**'I don't know either of you…'**

After pulling Kiba off of Naruto and asking Toro to 'convince' Akamaru to back off, I gave them both a 'What-do-you-think-you're-doing' look and they turned their heads downward, looking at the floor.

"What's going on?" I asked them sternly.

"It's February 14th and…" Naruto trailed off, picking up one of the bouquets of flowers, and holding it in front of me. "Happy valentines day Kini-chan."

I took the roses from him and looked at the flowers, my emerald eyes softened.

"If this is all you wanted, then why were you fighting?" I asked softly. They were both shocked at my tone. I was calm and quiet, but never _soft_.

"Well… I got you roses first…" Naruto scoffed at what Kiba said but he continued anyway, "…And then I came to give them to you and… saw that… Naruto… well… um… got you roses as well so…" Kiba grinned sheepishly and handed me the other batch of red flowers, "We… started to fight because… he said I copied him… and I _knew_ that he copied me."

"Hm. Thank you for the roses guys. There beautiful." I told them, looking at the two bouquets in my arms.

"Happy valentines day Kini-chan!" They said together. I looked at them and decided to give them a present too. I kissed Naruto on his left cheek and then turned to Kiba and did the same. When I stepped back they were both bright red and had their eyes slightly wide and mouths agape. I smiled at them and they snapped out of their stupor and grinned back.

"Happy valentines day fox. You too dog-boy." I said, using my nick-names for them. I had thought of nick-names for everyone who lived at this base and even a few for my friends at other bases.

Naruto was fox, Kiba was dog-boy, Sasuke was chicken-head, Neji was White-eyes, Shino was Bugsy, Kankuro was Neko, Shikamaru was pineapple-head and Gaara was sunshine. As for the others; Itachi was Itchy-kun, Kisame was Fishy-chan, Deidara was girly-girl and Sasori was Smiles.

Naruto and Kiba grinned shyly and walked away while I went into my room to find a vase. Their gifts looked lovely inside a tall black vase atop of my nightstand. I decided that, since it was Valentines Day, I would wear something a little different than usual.

As I opened the door to my walk-in closet I looked around for something, _anything_, that wasn't black or reminded me of my ninja missions. Scanning the rows of clothing I found nothing. Then I remembered the clothes that I had bought a few months ago but never wore because they weren't really the right colours for some one in my line of work.

I walked to the back of my closet and looked over the other rail of clothing that I had never worn and never planed to wear. Some people wonder why I bought the clothes if I had no intention of putting them on but the answer is simple. I bought them on the third Saturday of November. That was the day Ino and I always used to go shopping for random clothes that would look silly on us, just for the fun of it. It was a tradition that I didn't break when I went away to train for four years and I don't plan on stopping now. The only different is, without Ino and my old sense of buying _only_ brightly coloured clothes, the clothes I bought were as bright as they could be and they could actually be put together to make several nice outfits.

Finally picking some clothing I changed and looked in the mirror. My top was baby blue and was held up with two spaghetti straps. The design on the front had writing on it that said 'Cuter than you and you puppy put together.' The words were light blue but still darker than the actual top. The skirt, yes I choose to wear a skirt as well, was midnight blue that was straight, but still loose around my legs so that I could walk without looking stupid, and went down to my knees. Underneath the skirt I wore black under shorts, but that was only because I always wore them and it felt uncomfortable whenever I didn't. I put on a blue silk chocker and tied my hair up in a high pony tail with my red ribbon. Taking one last look in the mirror I left my room and chakra-locked my door.

On my way to the kitchen for breakfast I saw Kankuro. He appeared to have something in his hand but I didn't bother to look twice. He stared at me a little but then smiled and held his hand, and whatever he was holding, behind his back.

"Kini-chan! Wait up!" He yelled as he ran to catch up with me. I slowed my pace so that he could reach me faster but I didn't stop. "I got something for you!" He informed me cheerfully when he had reached me and began to walk beside my. I looked up at him, _'Why, oh why am I so short?'_, and gave him a questioning gaze.

"What is it Neko?" I asked.

"Firstly, why do you insist of calling me Neko? Can't you just call me Kankuro, like a normal person?" He questioned. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I'm not a normal person Neko and your hat makes you look like a kitty, so there!" I replied, sticking my tongue out again.

"Whatever. Anyway, close your eyes." He told me. By this time we had stopped walking and I was facing him, portraying my question in an elegant manner by scrunching up my face and saying 'Hu?' He chuckle at this and just waved off my childishness. "Just do it, okay?"

I did as I was told and closed my eyes. After about five seconds of just standing there he lifted my arm and placed a square box inside the palm of my hand.

"You can open your eyes now." I opened them and looked at my hand. Sitting on the palm was a rather big box, wrapped in pink paper and a red bow was sitting on top.

I looked at Kankuro and then back to the box before opening it. Inside there were around ten long boxes of different makes of chocolate. I smiled and looked up at Kankuro.

"You like?" He asked grinning.

"Yes I do. Wait here, I'll go and put these in my room." I walked to my room and opened the door, dropped the boxes of chocolate on my bed for later, and walked back out. I locked the door and stared on my way back to Kankuro. **'CHOCOLATE! SHANNARO! I LOVE CHOCOLATE!' **_'He-he me too.'_

I smiled up at Kankuro and he smiled back before we stared on our way to the kitchen again.

"So, Kini-chan, what do you think about the others?" He asked, trying to start a conversation.

"In what way?" I queried.

"Do you like anyone?" I knew what he was getting at but decided to play innocent.

"Of course I like someone!" I told him.

_Kankuro's PoV_

"Of course I like someone!" Kinikura told me.

"Who?" I asked in response. Gaara had asked me to find out if she liked anyone and, if she did, who it was. I hoped to the gods that it was me. I really like her and it's not just for her looks. She's smart, funny and fun to be around but also she is serious when needs be and can handle herself with minimal or no protection. I couldn't be helped that everyone here wanted to protect her though; she was a very likeable person and some where, underneath her tough, cold exterior, was a frightened little girl that didn't want to be lonely anymore.

It was obvious that she had gone though something that made her want to shield herself from the people around her, but by talking to her now; I had managed to make a crack in her armour. Whether or not that was a good thing remained unknown though.

"You! I like you Neko!" She yelled at me. My heart skipped a beat and my face flushed red. "I like you, dog-boy, Fox and everyone else in the base." She concluded. My face went back to its normal colour and I sighed. Either she didn't know what I had meant, or she was trying to avoid the real question. I suspected the latter.

"Kini-chan, that's not what I meant. Do you _like_, like anyone?" I asked, stressing the question by putting emphasis on 'like' and then repeating it.

"I knew what you meant Neko and the answer is, I don't know." She told me in a serious tone. She looked me right in the eye and I questioned no further.

Just before we entered the kitchen she held my arm gently, successfully stopping me from entering the room. Before I could ask what it was she wanted, she kissed my cheek and whispered thanks. She then hurried into the kitchen, leaving me in the hall, holding my cheek in shock.

"Kankuro." Called a cold voice. I turned and saw jade eyes glaring at me. _'If looks could kill…'_ "What are you doing?"

"Going in to get breakfast." I told him, struggling to keep the fear out of my voice. Gaara had seen her kiss me and didn't know that it was just a thank you for the chocolates I got her for Valentines Day.

"I saw her kiss you. Care to explain?" He asked coolly. I gulped and was about to answer when Kinikura appeared from the kitchen door.

"Neko, come on. Breakfast is ready and I want to eat it before it gets cold. I can't eat those _chocolates_ you got me that I just kissed you _thank you_ for, for breakfast now, can I?" She said stressing the words 'Chocolate' and 'Thank you' to make the reason she kissed me on the cheek crystal clear.

I could feel Gaara's anger die down and his chakra return to its normal calm.

"Oh, Hi Gaara! Come on you, breakfast is ready!" She said, running past me. She took a light hold on Gaara's arm and gently pulling him into the kitchen. Before going in she shot me a 'Be-more-careful-around-Gaara-next-time' look and I gave her an 'I-will' and 'Thanks-for-saving-me' She just smiled and grabbed my arm, sitting Gaara and I down on either side of her.

"KINI-CHAN!" Naruto yelled as soon as we took our seats. Kiba also turned towards her and grinned.

"Did you find some where for the roses Kini-chan?" Kiba asked her. _'Roses? Since when does she have roses?'_

"Yes, thank you again for the flowers Kiba." She said. Naruto cleared his throat in a loud and obvious way. I rolled my eyes while she smiled. "And thank you for the roses too, Naruto."

I could feel Gaara getting angry again, due to the fact Naruto, Kiba and I had all gotten her gifts and he hadn't, and his fists clenched. Neji entered the room and walked behind Kinikura. She didn't seem to dislike or avoid him so much after he stopped stalking her and they became friends, he still liked her as more than that though. He taped her shoulder and she turned around. I saw what he had behind his back and rolled my eyes. His gift would put all the other gifts to shame. He is so predictable.

_Sakura's PoV_

Neji was behind me and was using the same 'hide-something-behind-my-back' as Kankuro had done earlier.

"Hello Kini-chan." He said.

"Hi White-eyes." I replied casually. He rolled those aforementioned eyes in a mocking way before smirking at me. This was as close to a smile as he came and I knew that I just had to accept it. "What's that you're holding?"

His smirk grew as he brought his hand forward and presented me with a small blue, velvety jewellery case. I looked at it for a while and opened it. Gasping at what I saw inside, my face broke out into a small smile. Inside the case was a necklace. It had a silver chain and the pendant was a red ruby surrounded by a silver circle. It looked expensive and very beautiful. His smirk grew at my reaction and I looked at him when he spoke.

"I knew that you would like it. Do you want me to help you put it on?" I smiled and nodded. Standing up from my chair, he took the necklace from me and put it around my neck, clasping it at the back. The red contrasted with my blue clothing but it was too lovely to keep in the box until I changed. It hung just below my collar bone and I could feel the cool metal on my skin.

"I love it. Thank you Neji." I said as I hugged him. I truly loved the present but it would feel weird to give Neji a thank you kiss like the other three. I sat back down and Neji took the seat to the other side of Kankuro. I don't blame him really, after all, I could practically _see_ Gaara's rage radiating off of him and, I don't know why, but I swear that I heard him growl at Neji while he was helping me with my necklace.

After a while, Itachi and Kisame entered. Kisame walked over to my, grinning, and handed me a daisy.

"It's only natural for a brother to give his little sister a gift for Valentines Day Kini-chan." He said. I smiled back and thanked him.

"SHE'S YOUR SISTER!?!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs.

"No, dobe, they're good friends who are _like_ brother and sister." Sasuke explained to him after giving him a hit on the head.

Shino was cooking breakfast this morning and stared to serve it when Sasori walked in last. He made pancakes with lemon juice on top. Naruto started to complain that he got boring lemon pancakes while I got chocolate chipped heart-shaped ones. I smiled at Shino and he smiled back. He didn't mean anything by it, the pancakes I mean, we're best friends and he just felt like he should give me something for Valentines Day.

When everyone had finished their breakfast we went out to the training grounds. Sasori and Deidara came up to me and they each gave me a Valentines card which I returned with a kiss on the cheek for each of them. It was true that Valentines Day was the only time of the year that I showed _any_ emotion. Itachi and Kisame spared for a while before Itachi came up to me and, reluctantly, gave me a lily. _'Kisame must have forced him.'_ I thought when I saw him go back to his partner and glare. This made me laugh a little but I soon stopped when I felt the presence of the younger Uchiha behind me.

Sasuke cleared his throat and I turned to him slightly. He started to shift, uncomfortable, from one foot to the other and I almost laughed at him but thought that I probably shouldn't.

"Can I sit here?" He asked, gesturing to the spot on the grass beside me. I pretended to ponder this for a moment, to bug him more than anything, before nodding my head. He sat down and we remained silent for a while until he started to speak.

"Kinikura?" He said, getting my attention. "I…um… wanted to g-give you… this." He said as he pulled something out of his pocket.

I took the item and looked at it before smiling at him gratefully. It was a set of black and silver hair pins with small red crystal dragons on the silver clasp. I got up and walked in front of him. For a second he looked as though he was expecting me to punch him but instead I kneeled down and kissed him on the cheek, mumbling a thank you.

Later that day Shikamaru and I played shoji and he gave me a cherry blossom flower. I stared at it in shock. _'Did he figure out who I am?!?' **'We should kill him. Just in case.' **_**'WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND KILLING PEOPLE?!? He probably just thought that you would like a cherry blossom, that's all.'**

I smiled at him and slipped the cherry blossom behind my right ear.

"Thanks Pineapple-head." I said, giving him a hug. I won the game in the end and he left. I walked into my bathroom to get changed and brush my teeth and when I came out, there was a box on my bed.

The box was wrapped in red wrapping paper and there was no card. I picked it up off my bed and turned it over in my hands a few times. I didn't know what it was or who it was from so I stayed cautious. Everyone in the base had already given me a gift for Valentines Day. _'Everyone except…' _**'…Gaara.'**

I carefully tore open the wrapping paper and lifted the lid of the box. At first glance, the box was empty but after closer inspection I saw a letter sitting in the corner at the bottom. On the back of the letter it said: _Read me_ so I picked it up and flipped it over, still thinking that it was from Gaara.

_Hello little cherry blossom,_

_You know who I am but, at the same time, we've never met so I'll tell you who I am. Orochimaru. I know that you've heard of me and I would like to say this; bravo. You have the power and the brains to kill me and I congratulate for it, however, since you are under the command of you leader you are not allowed to leave to seek me. Too bad. Seeing as how you might, in the near future, get a mission to destroy me I must make you unable to fight against me. My jutsu has flaws, for example; you will still have your same mind and power, chakra, ect... But you will not be able to use any of your strength unless you find a loophole. Good luck and happy valentines day._

_Orochimaru._

Questions were reeling though my mind. How did he get this here; what jutsu; does he know who I am; what was he talking about; A loophole?

All my questions came to an end when the box started to glow a bright purple and the light consumed me and my entire room. At first I had no idea what was going on but I was scared though out the experience. The light lasted about three minuets but to me it felt like years.

I didn't feel any different but that didn't mean that nothing was wrong. I decided to look in the mirror to see if anything looked odd. When I stared at my reflection, I screamed.


	19. I is wittle

Chapter Eighteen

_When I stared at my reflection, I screamed._

"KINI-CHAN WHAT'S WRONG!?!" I heard Naruto yell from the other side of the door.

"N-Nofing!" I yelled back in a voice that sounded nothing like my own. _'Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!' _**'Come ON! We have _got_ to find a way to change back!' **_'Crap! Crap! Crap! I know that!'_

"Kini-chan? That doesn't sound like you!" _'Kiba's out there too?!? Crap!'_

"Were coming in Kini-chan!" **'AND NEKO!'**

They opened the door and I dove under the bed-sheets. I hoped that they would just think that I was ill and leave. _'Go away… Don't see me… please!'_ I felt someone pull the sheets and I held them tighter.

"Kini-chan, what's wrong?" Asked Naruto.

"Nofing." I told him in a small voice.

"That's NOT Kini-chan." Kiba stated. He then started to pull the blankets again but this time I wasn't strong enough to hold it in place and it came off.

The four boys, Neji was there too he was just quiet, stared at me, well, they stared at what they thought was me.

"Hi guys." I said, smiling weakly at them.

"Kini-chan, y-you…you're…" Naruto started lamely.

"You're… Five!" Kiba finished for him.

It was true. I had been turned into a five-year-old by Orochimaru's jutsu. My hair was cropped just as it was when I was younger but it remained the colours I had dyed it, thank goodness. My eyes were, once again, full of innocence and life but my mind and soul remained the same. I was still wearing the same clothes I had on after my shower which was a very baggy white, short sleeved t-shirt and some under shorts that had shrunken to my size. Just as Orochimaru had said I could still feel my power but I couldn't use it. That made me feel weak and vulnerable and I hated every second of it.

"Kini-chan, what happened?" Kankuro asked me. I turned to look at him with my big emerald orbs and couldn't help but feel small. He was always taller than me but now I was tiny in comparison. _'Great… now I'm even SHORTER!'_

"I don't know…" I responded in my childish voice. Oh how I loathed that voice. It was so sweet and innocent.

"Kini-chan looks so cute and tiny!" Naruto exclaimed. He picked me up and spun me around, then hugged me as though he was one of Sasuke's fan girls and I was a Sasuke doll. **'Nice analogy.' **_'Thanks.'_

"Naru-kun! Put me down!" I yelled as I struggled in his grip. _'Even Naruto is stronger than me now.'_

"She called me Naru-kun!" He yelled happily. I gave up struggling and did the only thing I could think of. _'I'll kick myself later for this…'_

I looked at Naruto with the sadist and cutest puppy dog face I could manage.

"Pwease put me down Naru-kun." I asked in a very sweet voice. He looked down at me and his eyes watered. He put me down on the floor, after yelling about how cute I was, and I walked over to Neji, who was the only person who wasn't yelling about how I was 'A cute five year old.'

When I reached him I realised that what I was about to say would sound funny coming out of a child and hoped that he didn't laugh.

"We need to fink (Think) of a pwan (Plan) to change me back to nowmawl (Normal)" I told him. He looked down at me and sighed.

"We should tell the others about this and report it to leader. You can't go on missions in this condition." He said and began to walk to the living room. He stopped just outside the door and turned back towards me and the other three. "Naruto, you get whoever it in the training field. Kiba, you gather the people who are in their rooms. Tell them to come to the living room. It's urgent." Naruto and Kiba nodded, and then left to round everyone up. "Kankuro, you contact leader, send him a letter or something, just make sure he knows about… this." Neji said, gesturing towards me with his left hand. Kankuro nodded and then he too left. He looked down at me and sighed again. "Come on. We'll go to the living room to wait for everyone."

This time it was me who nodded and I took his hand and followed him to the living room. He seemed surprised when I held his hand but just shrugged it off and continued walking.

_Neji's PoV_

After I had told everyone what to do, I looked again at chibi-Kini and sighed. This was going to be a very different day than the ones at the base so far. "Come on. We'll go to the living room to wait for everyone." I told her and started to walk out of her room and down the hall.

I heard Kinikura running to catch up and slowed down a bit. She sped up and soon reached my side. I felt warmth in my hand and looked down towards the chibi beside me. She had her left thumb in her mouth and was holding my left hand with her right. _'Cute'_ I thought to myself.

Her clothing still fit her as well as it had done before surprisingly, but it was still loose. I guessed that it must have shrunken with her. _'If we can't change her back right away then someone will have to take her shopping for new clothes.'_

We turned a corner and entered the living room. Kinikura's tiger, Toro, was already there, lying on her pillow, and her wolf, Morokie, was pacing by the fire. As soon as we entered Toro ran up to her mistress and Morokie studied me with her icy blue eyes.

The white wolf soon stood up and also approached us. She let Kinikura climb onto her back and carried her to the fire, where she put down the chibified assassin.

After around three minuets Naruto burst in with Deidara, Sasori and Sasuke. They all took seats around the room and on the floor, not yet noticing the quiet and small girl, hidden in the shadows, by the fire.

Kankuro entered the room alone and told me that he had sent the letter via our base mail-hawk. The hawk was also Kinikura's and she named it Hinichi. It was black, with a few red feathers here and there, and had golden eyes. The hawk went on missions with her sometimes but she mostly took Morokie or Toro, occasionally both or all three of them.

The last group to enter were the ones that Kiba had gone to get from their rooms, Gaara, Shikamaru and Shino, and Kiba himself of course. The only ones not present were Itachi and Kisame, but they were on a mission that they had left for, about an hour before Kinikura turned into a five-year-old. _'They are going to be shocked when they get back if we don't fix this, and fast!'_

_Sakura's PoV_

"Why did you call us all in here Hyuuga?" Asked a very annoyed Sasuke. Neji looked at him and took a deep breath, ready to explain, but Naruto cut him off before he'd even started.

"Kini-chan-was-turned-into-a five-year-old-and-she's-so-cute-and-she-called-me-Naru-kun!" He yelled in one breath.

"What?" Asked everyone in the room, except Kiba, Neji, Kankuro and I, who just sweat-dropped.

"What the baka is trying to say it that, Kinikura was turned into a five-year-old by some sort of jutsu." Neji informed them, much slower than Naruto had done before.

"No-" Sasori started.

"-Way!" Deidara finished for him.

Neji sighed for the third time and held his hand out towards me. I took it and stepped out of the shadow that I had been concealed in the whole time. Everyone stared, mouths open and eyes wide.

"Kinikura?!?" Shikamaru exclaimed, not in a lazy tone. That alone was amazing enough from the shoji champ.

"No, pineapple-head, it's the tooth fairy!" I said sarcastically.

"The tooth fairy?" Naruto asked himself, puzzled, before a grin broke out on his face and he looked down at me, "Can I have some money Chibi-Kini-Tooth-fairy-chan?"

'**_He's on my list…' _'What list?' _'…You don't want to know…' _'Try me!' _'Are you sure? _'Yep!' _'…My list of death.' _'…' _'…hello?' _**_'She fainted…' **'... I see…' **'I'm Bored.'_

I walked over to Naruto and hit him on the leg, since I couldn't reach his head. Sasuke then walked over to me and kneeled down to my level. I looked at him as he continued to stare at me. He smirked and whispered something in my ear. I nodded and he picked me up.

"Eh? What did you ask her teme?" Naruto asked obliviously.

"If she wanted to do this…" He held me up high enough to reach Naruto's head and I hit him gently.

"I'm not the tooth-fairy, baka." I mumbled.

"But, YOU SAID-?!?"

"Dobe, she was being sarcastic." Sasuke interrupted him.

They argued over whether I was _really_ the tooth-fairy for about twenty minutes until Neji broke them away from each other and looked down at me. He walked towards me and picked me up. I let out a small 'eep' at the unexpected lift but he had soon set me in a comfortable way so the he could speak. My legs were loosely wrapped around his stomach and my arms were around his neck. His own arms were secured lightly around my waist in a brotherly manner.

The Hyuuga cleared his throat loudly and everyone turned their attention towards him. Everything was quiet.

"First, we need someone to take chibi-Kini to get some more clothes." Deidara raised his hand and got appointed the task.

"Second, who will help me think of a way to turn her back?" Shikamaru, Shino and Kankuro raised their hands this time. Neji nodded and thought of anything else that needed to be done.

"Third, will anyone tell Itachi and Kisame when they come back?" No one raised their hand and everyone hoped that it wouldn't be them. "You can do it then Uchiha. That's everything." He said in a flat tone, handed me to Deidara, who lifted me into a piggy-back position, and walked out of the room.

Sasuke grumbled about not wanting to be the one to tell his 'psychotically murderous brother' anything. The next to leave was Gaara, who did nothing except stare at me the whole time. Naruto got bored and went to get some ramen and was followed closely by Kiba, who wanted to eat as well. Kankuro fell onto the sofa and died.

'…'

'**He didn't die. He just fell asleep!' _'Fun crusher…'_**

Anyway, Kankuro fell on the sofa and began to snore loudly, the noise made Shino and Shikamaru get up from the sofa cross from the sleeping puppet-master and walk out to the training fields.

The only ones left in the room that were awake were Deidara, Sasori and I. The blonde turned his head to Sasori and said something that I couldn't even make sense of, and I was still being held by him in a piggy-back position. Sasori just acknowledged him blankly with an obvious 'I-can't-hear-you' portraying from his dark eyes.

Deidara sighed and left the room, with me still on his back, and Sasori soon followed suit. When all three of us were outside the room Deidara tried speaking again.

"Why did you stay behind… yeah?" He asked curiously.

"I'm going with you and Kini-chan." He replied monotonously.

"Err… Okay then… Yeah."

"Yayness! Smiles is coming with us!" I yelled in childish delight. For some reason, the longer I remained this age, the more I _act_ this age.


	20. Shopping and Info!

Chapter Nineteen

'_I can't believe that Hyuuga gave me the job of telling my brother about Kinikura! I'll kill him for this later…'_ I continued to pace my room, trying to think of a way to tell Kisame and Itachi the news. It's not every day one of your team mates/base mates turns into a five-year-old and a certain raven-haired, red eyed Uchiha isn't going to take the news well.

They were expected back in three or four days, defiantly not enough time to turn her back according to Neji and I still need to think of an excuse to avoid her over-protective, brother-like pet goldfish. _'I shouldn't be trying to find an excuse; I should be looking for an all-in-one Sharingan and Samehada repellent!'_

Kinikura had already left with Deidara and Sasori to buy clothes and Naruto was training with Kankuro and Neji while Shikamaru and Shino played shoji. Kiba was in his room with Akamaru, polishing their weapons for a mission they had to go on tomorrow with Gaara and Gaara, well... he was… off being Gaara.

I decided to drop in on Naruto's training and try to get him to trade jobs with me. He always was a dobe and he might be stupid enough to actually _want_ to spill the news to Itachi when he got back. I made my way to the training grounds and I heard Kankuro yell out at Naruto, who replied by yelling something about becoming Hokage once our mission was complete and got a hit from Neji for being so loud.

"But Neji, none of the _real_ members are here so we can say WHAT EVER WE WANT!" Naruto yelled.

"Dobe, it seems to me that they became suspicious when _all_ of you came to this base _together_ and just _happened_ to know Kiba, Shino and I before you came. The last thing we need if for someone to walk in at the exact moment you yelled about never leaving the village for real!" I told him.

"You mean he shouldn't start yelling things like you just did out-loud, just in case someone like _me_ turns up?" An unknown voice said from behind me.

"Exactly!" I replied without thinking. I realised what I had just done and turned to meet light pink hair.

Most of the time, when things happen in my life that takes me by surprise, I keep my composition and study it further, only to realise that it wasn't very shocking at all. This time, however, I lost all of my dignity by falling backwards onto my butt.

"Sakura!?!" I yelled out in shock. After a moment, I looked at this person closer and noticed that it was an eight-year-old girl with the same pink hair as Sakura.

"No, I'm not a flower, Sasuke!" The child yelled back at me. I blinked a few times and saw that her hair was too dark to be Sakura's but it was still close.

"Who are you then?" Asked Naruto with a dumb-founded expression.

"Don't you recognise me? I might have gotten a bit younger and then a bit older, but come on! It's me! Kinikura!" She told us.

"But, you were five! Now you're eight!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Thank you captain obvious. Now, what was all this talk of being shinobi from Konoha… on a mission?" She enquired. She might be in the body of an eight-year-old but she still had the mind of a woman of eighteen.

Everyone was shifting nervously and she just looked at us with a calm gaze, much like the one she was wearing when she came into my room on the night Neji's team arrived.

_Sakura's PoV_

I dragged Deidara though town by the hand and many people thought it was cute to see a five-year-old pulling her _father_ this way and that. Sasori trailed, unenthusiastically, after us, grumbling about having to be old. They had put on a Henge that made Deidara a man in his mid-twenties with red hair and green eyes and Sasori was an elderly man with grey hair and green eyes.

The first shop we went into together, because they had given me money and half an hour to get underwear by myself, was a small clothes shop filled to the brim with dresses. I suddenly felt ill so we left to go to the toilets without buying anything.

The men waited for me while I went inside a stall in the woman's toilets. It happened so fast that I didn't know what was going on but all of a sudden the same light that had turned me into a child surrounded me again. It was all over as soon as it started and I felt fine afterwards.

However, something told me to look in a mirror, and it wasn't vanity. I rushed out of the stall and peered at myself in one of the small mirrors above the sinks. I had gotten taller and my hair was only about one shade darker that my natural colour but still pinker than when I had last checked. My eyes were no longer innocent but had the same shine as they did before I became a child. That was expected because I lost the aura of child-ness when I killed for the first time and that was when I was six.

I gasped and ran out to Sasori and Deidara. At first, they didn't know it was me but they soon realised it was due to my hair. Although it was too light to be Kinikura and lacked the purple and black, I was the only person they knew with pink hair.

"Kini-chan what happened!?!" Asked a worried Deidara.

"I don't know! One second I was feeling sick, then I was surrounded by light and then I'm eight!"

"Maybe if we just wait it out, you'll eventually go back to being eighteen again." Deidara suggested.

"Or maybe, she'll keep aging until she dies." Sasori responded calmly. "Look, I think that we should just get her some clothes and go home!"

We went to a different shop now, since the other one was for new-borns to six-year-olds. This one was called 'lily angel' and I swore that if it was full of dresses and frills then I would personally decapitate Deidara for bringing me here.

"How can I help you today?" Asked an old woman from behind a counter. She smiled sweetly at Deidara and myself but when she saw Sasori, who was still Henge'd to look like my grandpa, she literally leapt over the counter and ran to him. She tugged on his arm while she spoke, "And how can I help you handsome? Maybe my name? It's Loretta and I would _love_ to know yours." She cooed at him.

I was struggling to hold my laughter and decided to have some fun with what I had just been given.

"_Grandpa_, is that nice lady gonna be my new _grandma_?" I teased. Sasori shot me a glare where as 'Loretta' just blushed and smiled at me.

"Maybe one day…" She told me dreamily.

Sasori growled as Deidara started browsing though the clothes, stopping at a top or pair of jeans, or something, that he thought would look nice on me. All the while I was with Loretta and Sasori, sitting on the counter and making fun of him for _still_ having a fan-club when he was elderly. Yes, Sasori, an S-class criminal and Akatsuki member, had a big, _big_ fan-club.

"Granny-Etta, can I tell you a secret?" I asked the old woman, who was still hanging off of Sasori's arm, innocently.

"Go ahead Candy dear." She replied, not taking her eyes away from Sasori's, slightly annoyed, face. We had told her our names were Candy, Doro, a.k.a Deidara, and Soby, a.k.a Sasori.

"It's about Grandpa-Soby!" I yelled, getting her full attention. "I think that he loves yo-"

"Candy, come and try on these clothes!" Deidara yelled to me, interrupting the confession of love Sasori has for Loretta.

"Coming papa!" I yelled to him, jumping down of the counter and running to Deidara, who had a mountain of clothes in his arms in various colours.

Sasori and Loretta had both come over to see how I looked in various outfits, but Loretta only came because she was following Sasori like a lost puppy.

The first outfit I tried on was a baby-blue long-sleeved top that had dark blue stripes going down the arms and around the neck. The trousers were simple blue jeans with a sequin butterfly on the left pocket. This earned three thumbs up, so we got it.

Next up was a black tank top with no design and black cycle shorts that went just below my knees. This time I wore shoes, but they were only black trainers. This got another three thumbs up. Loretta, at first, claimed that it was too dark for a pink-haired child, but changed her mind immediately when Sasori said it looked nice. At his comment, I blushed a bit, but not noticeably. Even though I looked like an eight-year-old and he looked almost sixty, we were both around the same age in reality and that was the first time he had ever complimented me.

The next outfit was a disaster of pink that Deidara looked embarrassed about, claiming that he _never even touched_ those clothes. Loretta admitted that it was her that placed the clothing in my pile and told us that it was only natural for a girl to have _some_ pink in her wardrobe.

This outfit consisted of a bright pink, completely sleeveless top with a muddy brown heart poorly sewn on in the middle and on the back it had another heart, but this one was puke green. The skirt was brighter than the top, but still pink and it came down around mid-thigh. She had chosen lime green _clogs_ to go with this outfit and one thing was made crystal clear, _'This woman has no fashion sense.' _**'My eyes are burning!' _'Why?' _'I looked in the mirror!' _'Tch, you're such a drama inner. I'm going to look,' _'No don't! You'll go blind!' **_'She's gone to look!' _**'Noooooo! Sweet Saku-chan, I hardly knew ye!' **_'Shut up, she's back.' **'…' **_**'Well?' _'So… much… pink…' _'Saku-chan?' _'Noooooo evil spirit of the pinkness! I want to live! I WANT TO LIVE!' _**_'Can you calm her down while I get out of this outfit?' _**'I can try… But I'm not making any promises.'**

I changed back after receiving two thumbs down from Sasori and Deidara and tried on twelve other outfits, ten of which we got and two, that were picked out by Loretta, we left in the shop, praying for the poor soul who would try them on next.

We decided to get some more clothing and so we went into a place called 'Dressy Bessie' that Deidara picked, once again. This time, to Sasori's relief, the person at the counter was a teenage girl with cropped blonde hair and brown eyes. She looked very bored and I thought that she was going to be all 'hurry up and get out' but she helped us pick out three dresses, much to my dismay, and a few skirts and tops, since this place didn't sell many trousers. We smiled at her and left, after paying of course.

Sasori and I just wanted to get home and rest but Deidara dragged us into one final shop. This one was named 'Miss Ninja' and it was full of clothes for young konoichi in training. This time, instead of standing at the door or by the counter like we had done in the other shops and let Deidara do all the shopping, Sasori and I browsed thought the racks of clothing as well. I was thrilled that Deidara had lead us to a ninja-wear shop and _not_ the dress emporium that he had been threatening me with all day.

I chose three complete outfits, where as Sasori found one top and Deidara had another mountain. I tried on a few of the outfits and got three sets of training clothes, one full casual shinobi uniform, one formal shinobi uniform and we left.

Sasori had arranged for a smaller Akatsuki uniform to be sent for me by mail and had sent the letter to get one already. He had changed the scroll so it read the new size, instead of the one I would have worn when I was in my five-year-old form, and we went home.

I ran ahead of the two men and arrived at the base about an hour before either of them would arrive using some chakra in my feet. After I transformed, I discovered that around half of my chakra had been let free and I was now at half strength.

When I had finished putting away my clothes I still had around forty-five minuets before my escorts to town arrived back and so I went to find the others. When I thought of them I almost laughed. The actually thought that we didn't know that they were on a mission? Even Tobi, a member from the base near mist who was one of my best friends but also a bit dim, could have figured out what they were up to.

When you have Itachi, Sasori and I, all together and thinking, it is easy to figure out the cleverest and most sinister plot, so figuring out that Konoha and Suna had sent them on a mission was easy enough when _just_ Shino, Kiba and Sasuke arrived. Sasuke hated his brother with a passion so why would he spontaneously want to join him. When they had sent the other five, well, they must think we're stupid! Why would five ninja, who just _happen_ to know the original three who arrived not too long before themselves, all join at the same time?

The only thing we needed was proof that they wanted to harm our organisation and we could either kill them or send them packing. In all honestly, I voted for the latter because, although I may have left them and my past not so long ago, when the turned up again, I felt almost… happy. The most I could feel when it came to happiness at the moment was contentment because there were still so many who were back in Konoha, and Temari, and part of my _very_ large fan-club that still exist when most people think I'm dead, are in Suna.

I was now wearing one of my new training outfits, a black and red tank top with black cycle shorts, and was making my way towards the training grounds. The reason I had gotten so many outfits was because of my shrinking jutsu. Even when I turned back to normal I could enlarge my new clothes to fit. I could have just used the jutsu to shrink some of my old clothes but… honestly, where's the fun in that? I'm a girl, I like to shop!

I heard Naruto's voice booming though out the base and smirked.

"I will, with the help of this spy mission, become Hokage of Konoha when we go home!" Naruto declared loudly. The next thing I heard was him being hit on the head and decided to get closer so that I could see what was going on.

"But Neji, none of the _real_ members are here so we can say WHATEVER WE WANT!" Naruto yelled. My smirk grew when I realised that, because they hadn't felt my chakra waves in such small proportion before, I was practically invisible to them even without masking my chakra, so I chose to get a bit closer and hid behind a tree.

"Dobe, it seems to me that they became suspicious when _all_ of you came to this base _together_ and just _happened_ to know Kiba, Shino and I before you came. The last thing we need if for someone to walk in at the exact moment you yelled about never leaving the village for real!" Sasuke told him.

"You mean he shouldn't start yelling things, like you just did, out-loud, just in case someone like _me_ turns up?" I called out to them, walking from behind the tree until I was just to the side of Sasuke.

"Exactly!" He replied without thinking. He soon realised what he had just done and turned to meet my now light pink hair.

He spun around quickly with a look of pure shock on his face and I could see that he was struggling to stay calm. I almost, _almost_ laughed at his face when he fell backwards onto his butt and lost what ever dignity he had left after confessing to me that they were spies and then confirming it. **'Haha! He fell on his butt! The almighty king chicken-head and my ex-crush just fell on his butt and look… just look at the expression on his poor little face!'**

"Sakura!?!" He yelled out in shock. After a moment, he looked at me closer and noticed that I was an eight-year-old girl with the same pink hair as Sakura, who ironically was me so he was right in the first place and didn't need to second guess himself.

"No, I'm not a flower, Sasuke!" I yelled back at him, pretending to think that he called me a cherry-blossom and not by my true name. He blinked a few times and saw that my hair was too dark to be _Sakura's_ but it was still close.

"Who are you then?" Asked Naruto with a dumb-founded expression.

"Don't you recognise me? I might have gotten a bit younger and then a bit older, but come on! It's me! Kinikura!" I told them with feigned hurt etched across my face.

"But, you were five! Now you're eight!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Thank you captain obvious. Now, what was all this talk of being shinobi from Konoha… on a mission?" I enquired slyly. I might be in the body of a child now but in no way was I as naive or as innocent minded as one. Not even when I was an eight-year-old for real was I _at all_ innocent or naive!

Everyone was shifting nervously and I just gave them the same calm gaze as the one I had been wearing when I entered Sasuke's room, which is soon going to be storage space once more, on the night Neji's team arrived.

They kept avoiding my eyes and looking at anything but my small, petite form. I smiled and decided to tell then the truth about why they haven been kicked out yet in my own way, after all of my tormenting of Sasori I was in a teasing mood and decided to lead them on for a while.

"You know when Itachi comes home and I tell him, he's going to kill all of you on the spot and…" I paused for dramatic purpose, and so little Saku could see them tremble in fear and/or anticipation. "If I tell Sasori and Deidara when they walk though those doors in a minuet… well… I can't be held responsible for their actions. I'm so, _so_ sorry, it was nice knowing all of you!" I finished, a little too cheerfully, with a giggle.

"Noooooo! I want to LIVE!" Kiba and Naruto yelled in a way that reminded me of little-Saku earlier with the pink monstrosity that Loretta called an outfit. I giggled and they all looked at me.

"I'm kidding!" I yelled. Neji seemed puzzled while Sasuke just scratched his head in confusion.

"What do you mean you're _kidding_" Gaara asked, speaking up for the first time. Apparently he, Shino and Shikamaru had walked in some time during Naruto and Kiba's declaration of wanting to live. Kiba had walked out here before I started telling them how I'll tell the others and they will die.

"I mean that we already knew that you were spies!" I informed them impatiently. All I received in response was a bunch of confused faces and some questioning grunts. I sighed and began to explain, "When I first hear that Kiba, Shino and Sasuke were coming here I got a bit suspicious. Sasuke hates his brother so much that he trained for years to kill him, why would he suddenly give up his ambition to _join_ him? Also, I knew that Kiba would never leave Konoha for the world! He might not have had a girlfriend or anything, but he was _best_ friends with Choji and could never dream of going! Shino wouldn't care too much about anything as long as he had missions and his bugs, so what would be the point in him going _anywhere_? Still, it was three shinobi and we couldn't turn you down since you were strong and willing to join, so I kept my opinion to myself." I stopped to take in their expressions but didn't take heed of the fact that I was pouring out information… information about themselves that the Akatsuki doesn't hold. I still continued, completely oblivious.

"Not even six months later, we get another request from strong shinobi, usually this would be fine but it was an unusually large group, I mean come on! FIVE of you? Also, _everyone_ knew each other! I know that Neji wanted to prove that he was just as good as the main branch and he couldn't do that by _leaving_! Naruto! You wanted to be Hokage since you were a child! So that people would acknowledge you as a great Hokage and not the Kyuubi! And you Gaara! You don't want to be feared, you want to be respected! How can you avoid being feared when you're part of the most feared group of criminals ever? YOU CAN'T! Shikamaru, you're just _way_ too lazy to go anywhere unless it's on a mission and Kankuro, you just didn't want to be left behind on your own to suffer Temari's cooking." I finished and took a deep breath. Looking around at the expressions of shock on their faces I realised what I had just done and clamped a hand over my mouth.

A five minuet silence passed with them staring at me and me trying to think of an excuse as to why I had all of this knowledge. Sasuke spoke up to break the uncomfortable quietness left behind by my, rather long, speech and I had nothing.

"How do you know all of that information? No one outside of Konoha or Suna could have known all of that, let alone known it well enough to recite it to us like that. Who are you? Where are you really from? Because, now, I doubt that you are from mist and left before you got your protector."

I racked my brain for a suitable excuse over and over again but came up blank each time. I remembered a part of Orochimaru's note that I had read, only two minuets before I left to go to town with Deidara and Sasori. It said: _'Only though the truth can you stop the change of time.'_ I'm guessing that 'the change of time' is my changing ages at random and then the truth could be…

…Telling them who I really am. Not Tomito Kinikura, but rather, Haruno Sakura, the pink-haired shinobi that they had grown up with or met in the past.

The last part was written on the back and the handwriting was a style that I knew to be Kabuto's, after all, I did a job for Orochimaru and he left me a note to tell me that my contract was done and my money was…-somewhere, I can't remember where right now- and so he was either writing under the order of Orochimaru or giving me a clue as to how I can reverse the jutsu.

I doubted that it was the former, since Orochimaru seems to want me out of the way for good, so it must have been his way of helping me. Kabuto and I had gotten on rather well during my three month contract with the snake-man and had often sipped some tea while playing chess, a game that he had to teach me but I became quite a good player when I got the hang of it.

I understood Kabuto's riddle perfectly and knew now that to become myself once more, I would need to become _myself_. I would need to become Sakura again and let Kinikura remain the assassin deep within and, at the same time, on the surface of my very soul that was clouded with death after I had killed my handsome owl's team.

"I won't ask you again! WHO ARE YOU?" The younger Uchiha demanded in an almost frightening tone. I looked down and tried to come up with, no an excuse, but a way to reveal my true self.

"I am… I-I am…" I looked at the cherry blossom trees as they swayed to and fro above the training grounds and a way to represent myself. They lay bare their branches and disguise what they are until spring when they bloom again. I am like a cherry blossom, which is caught in an eternal winter with no way out…

"I am someone who does my research."

…And doesn't want to find one yet.


	21. Stranger in Konoha

Chapter Twenty

A few days had past and Itachi was due home with Kisame sometime after lunch. I hadn't left my room since the incident and didn't plan on coming out ever again. I had become twelve and looked _exactly_ the same as I did then and the last thing I needed was for the Konoha, or Suna, shinobi knowing who I was, whether that would cure me or not.

The day my out burst had occurred, I ran straight to my room, locked the door and cried. I had never cried since I went back to Konoha after my four-year training trip. _Konoha_. This word brought new tears to my eyes and I buried my head into my pillow to try and drown out the sounds of my weeping.

No one had tried to get me to come out of my room and Kiba had left a few days ago for a mission with Gaara. I never did tell anyone about my discovery, about them being spies. I never thought about how much of an affect they would have on me if I let them stay. Shino and Shikamaru had come by my door a few days ago to say good bye. They were going back to Konoha, going back home. I didn't open my door, but I didn't let them leave without a word of farewell. I walked to my door and said good bye from there, which is the closest I have come to leaving, even though I didn't, since I locked myself away.

I do miss mine and Shikamaru's shoji Sundays and the way Shino and I could talk about nothing for hours on end. They had gone to the one place I was too cowardly to go. Not Konoha, but home. Home, where my mother and father lived with me in a small house away from the noisy cities and all the shinobi problems. However, it seems as if the shinobi problems came to us and I was thrown into a world of shuriken and kunai.

The day after Shikamaru and Shino left, Naruto came to my door and asked if I wanted to go and get some ramen with him. I declined, saying that I felt ill. The truth was that I couldn't stand to be around him. I don't mean that in a bad way, of course, it's just that I would feel uncomfortable being around him after everything I said. My mind was a jumble after that.

'_I had a dream once too…' _**'What was it?' **_'I dreamed to live with my mother and father, learn the ways of healing and be at peace forever.' _**'… I remember our other dream. The one we had after their deaths…' **_'What was it?' _**'We dreamed of living with our new friends in Konoha and protecting everyone we held dear.' _'Do you two know what our last dream was… the one before we stopped dreaming?' _'No…' **_'…I do. We dreamed that our dreams and the dreams of those we loved would never be forgotten…' **'Our dreams never came true…' **_**'…And they never will' _'Mother's gone…'_****'Father's gone…' **_'Our first dream was over before it started.' _**'I left Konoha…' _'I can't protect them from here…' _**_'My second dream was wasted.'_** 'We forgot…' _'Our only hopes… our dreams…' _**_'And when my last dream went away, my soul went with it.'_

I suddenly remembered something that I had kept since I was seven and had written in it every day until it was full. I didn't fill it until I was fifteen and had stored it away in my memory box. I called it my dream journal because it held every dream I had ever had. Whether the dream was about a new bike for Christmas or death and despair I wrote about it, sometimes in the form of a story, sometimes a poem.

I dragged the box out from under my bed and started sorting though it. I found the ribbon that Ino had given me when we first met. The next item that caught my eye was photo of my parents and I at home in the summer, with a tree of my names sake behind us. Next to my journal I saw some old mission scrolls from my days as a genin and a team photo that I never had the heart to destroy or throw away.

Picking up my journal I gave it a once-over with my eyes. The brown-leather cover remained the same, as did the crimson bind holding it closed. The pages were stained yellow due to aging, but only in the corners. I turned to a random page that had a poem in it about my dream encounter with a man with dark hair, dark eyes, but wasn't Sasuke and, now that I think about it, it wasn't Itachi either. It read:

_Dusk light fall upon your hair,_

_Like stars in the midnight sky,_

_Your eyes like pools of blackened warmth,_

_Save me from the coldest day._

_You say that you cannot live,_

_Without my face to lead you to light,_

_And you cannot go on without,_

_The knowledge that I feel the same._

_The only thing I think of now,_

_Is how you name dances past my lips,_

_You say mine like it is a blessing,_

_I say yours the same._

_Sai._

'_Sai? I don't know anyone named Sai, do I? Oh well, he probably isn't real anyway. Might be my imagination picturing the perfect man or he could be someone from my past.'_ I flipped to another page, a story this time:

_I danced with my handsome prince all though the night within nights. My red dress swung around my feet as he twirled me with the grace of a butterfly._

"_Sakura," He said to me, "I love you."_

"_I love you too, my handsome prince. My own, my Sai." I replied with a ring of happiness in my voi-_

I snapped the journal shut and closed my eyes, before re-opening them and falling deep into thought. _'Sai?' _**'Who is Sai?'**_ 'I don't know, do you little Saku-chan?' **'Nope, but he sounds nice.' **'Hmmm.' **'But I know someone **_**much_ nicer!' _**_'Who?' **'My handsome OWL!'** 'My handsome owl…'_ I mused as I drifted into a sleep that was, for once, full of pleasant dreams. _'Shall we ever meet again?'_

_Sasuke PoV_

Kinikura really took me by surprise that day when she told me things about myself that I told almost no one. Naruto and Kakashi were the only ones who knew. Well, except… Sakura.

I heard the door open and close to warn me that someone had entered the base. I left the living room and, much to my dismay, saw that Itachi and Kisame had arrived back from their mission. They were in perfect condition, without a bruise or scrape anywhere to be found. Itachi explained that it was a simple information gathering mission and only someone as weak as I could have gotten hurt on it. I tried to ignore that comment.

"I need to tell you two something." I said suddenly when all three of us were sitting in the living room.

"Go ahead little brother." Itachi directed me.

"It's about Kinikura… she was turned into a child and keeps jumping ages. At first she was five… then eight… then three… and I think that she's somewhere around eleven to thirteen."

"You _think_?" Asked a worried Kisame.

"She's locked herself in her room and hasn't come out for the past three days."

"I'm going to go and talk to her." Before I could stop him, Kisame had begun the short journey to the girl's room, leaving my brother and myself in an awkward silence. _'Why are there so many awkward silences in this base?!'_

"When did she first transform?" Itachi enquired calmly.

"About an hour after you left." I told him warily, after all, I knew from experience that Itachi was like a ticking time bomb when it came to bad news.

"You know, she doesn't like you very much." He told me at random. It wasn't the completely obvious changing of the subject that had caught my off guard though, it was the bluntness of his statement. More to the point, it was what he said.

"What are you talking about?"

"She. Doesn't. Like. You." He said slowly, as if he were talking to a two year old.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, maybe she does like you but… she likes me better." He stated smugly. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to get my angry. _'Tch. Like I would loose my cool over a statement like that!'_

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?!" _'So much for keeping my cool…'_

"I'm merely telling you the facts, foolish little brother."

"Take it back!"

"No."

"Apologise!"

"Why should I say sorry for telling you the facts?"

I froze when he said these words.

"_Why should I say sorry for telling you the facts?"_

I said those words to Naruto once, after I said some hurtful things about Sakura. I had forgotten until now.

"Never say those words again." I told my brother with icy venom dripping on my every word. He seemed amused by this and smirked.

"Why should I say sorry for telling you the facts? Kini-chan doesn't like you, your past love, what was her name? Sakura? She is dead because of you, and look at you now. Force to stay with the one man you swore to kill. You're pathetic. You're weak."

That was it. He had crossed the line. I launched myself at him and began to attack without remorse.

_Sakura's PoV_

Kisame tried to get me out of my room yesterday but I sent him away. Later on, Naruto came and told me that Sasuke and Itachi had gotten into the fight of life or death. Both survived, but Sasuke left the base. Naruto came to say good bye because he was going with him. Kiba and Gaara arrived back from their information gathering mission and found that most of the other spies had gone. Gaara dubbed the mission over and he and Kankuro went back to Suna.

Not too long after that, Neji went home with Kiba because Deidara had told them that it was pointless to stay when we knew they were spies and we still wouldn't give them any information of use to them. So I was alone with the _real_ criminals once again. To be honest, I couldn't have been happier.

After about a week, I came out of my room and began to hang out with Kisame and Deidara during training. Then I spoke with Itachi for the first time since the spies had come to the base and finally, I helped Sasori build a new puppet by letting him use my child form as a model.

Not long after that, I turned back to my normal eighteen-year-old self but, as a reminder of Orochimaru's _generous_ gift, I studied the form of his jutsu and modified it so that it was much like a Henge but with a realistic scale of chakra released from each form of age and I could unlock my full supply either bit by bit or all at once. Also, I could change the way I look and, because of Orochimaru's jutsu, it didn't use up any chakra after the initial change and the change back.

Things started to get back to normal around the base, with everyone doing chores and keeping Kisame away from the kitchen. The corridor I live on was empty, apart from me, once again. I sometimes sleep in one of the other rooms to remember the boys who left, and that was the only thing that stopped me from moving on. The memories that I couldn't erase, that I didn't _want_ to erase.

I wanted to have them all be a part of me forever. I wanted to go home, I wanted Konoha. For the first time in two years, I wanted, I needed to be with the people hidden within the village of the leaf.

I left the Akatsuki on a two-year-long vacation, offered to me by the leader himself as a break from all the drama in my life. 'It's once thing,' he told me, 'to find out that most of the people who joined your base were spies, but to add a jutsu cast on you to turn you into a child? I'd say a year or two away from the Akatsuki would do you good. Perhaps you could start your old business again in the mean time.'

I knew what he meant by that. He meant that during my vacation I should become the solo assassin, Huntress, once again. I must admit though, it doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

In Konoha

_General PoV_

Sasuke walked up to the Hokage's office and knocked on the door. He entered when he hear the usual 'come in' and looked at the other people in the room. There was Naruto, Neji, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru and, what really surprised him, was that Kankuro and Gaara where in there as well.

It had been about two months since their return from the mission in the Akatsuki and none of the people involved had said more than a word to each other. It was odd that Tsunade had called them all in after everyone had filed a mission report.

"Sasuke, please take a seat." Said boy glanced around the room to see no chairs available and glared at the women behind the desk. She glared back and he walked over to the wall on the left side of the room and leant against it. "Now that you are all here we may begin."

"Begin what Tsunade-baa-chan?" Naruto questioned the lady Hokage.

"I'M NOT AN OLD LADY NARUTO-BAKA!" she screamed at him, "Now, as I was saying. As attacks from sound grow more and more current in both Suna and Konoha, we had to enlist the help of an outsider who once lived in the village."

"Who?" Kiba asked curiously.

"That, Inuzuka, you will find out tomorrow, when they arrive. I will tell you this though, you know them better that you may think. Now that I have told you all of what I needed to tell you, Gaara, Kankuro, you will be staying with Naruto. Agreed?" Everyone nodded. "Good, now, GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!" She screamed and everyone fled from the tower.

Tsunade sighed and poured herself some sake, not noticing the figure, which had now opened the window and was now right behind her.

"Tsk, Tsk, Hokage. You still have a temper _and_ an obsession with sake? Not much has change in the past few years now has it?"

"No it hasn't. I thought that you were coming tomorrow?"

"Now, now. No need to be so cold. I thought that I would come a day early to spend some time with my favourite Hokage. But if you want me to leave, than maybe I will Tsunade-sensei."

The Hokage's eyes widened when she heard the voice, as close as it was now, and turned around with tears in her eyes.

"I didn't know that _you_ were the one who I'd hired!"

"Not many people do."

"Are you going to attend the Konoha reunion tonight at eight? It's in the Ichiruka ramen bar."

"I'll probably drop by."

"I've missed you so much!" She yelled as she enveloped the figure in a tight embrace and cried her heart out.

Outside the tower

"So, I'm going to that reunion tonight, anyone else coming?" Kiba asked of the eight men who stood outside the tower, puzzled at what the Hokage had said.

"I am!" Naruto yelled. Others just mumbled that they were going and they all parted ways to go home, with Kankuro and Gaara trailing after Naruto.

Ichiruka, Eight pm

Ino sat with Choji and Shikamaru, talking about what had happed to who and when. Naruto found Hinata and her husband and joined the couple for a chat after congratulating them on the wedding. Sasuke, Neji and Shino stood with lee, Ten-ten, Gai and Kakashi, who had brought a friend with him. Everyone was surprised to see Sai again after he left to join ANBU and lost contact with everyone in the village. He had first met the rookie nine and their sensei's two years ago and was soon introduced to team Gai as well. When he asked why the rookie nine was labelled as such when there were only eight of them, he was told that the final member, Sakura, went missing, presumed dead, a few months before he turned up.

Other ninja, such as Genma and Ibiki, were just randomly chatting to other ninja, ANBU and genin alike. This wasn't really a reunion, more like a get together of all of the ninja in Konoha, for them to mix without rank or title.

A few hours past and it was now nearing ten o'clock but everyone was still there. No alcohol was allowed to be served, since there were kids here who were around the ages of eleven or twelve. After around half-an-hour someone burst into the restaurant.

Everyone turned their attention to the door to greet their new guest but their words caught in their throats and their eyes widened at the sight of the person at the door. It was the one person who they would never expect to see at these kinds of parties. It was-


	22. Sai

Chapter Twenty One

_Everyone turned their attention to the door to greet their new guest but their words caught in their throats and their eyes widened at the sight of the person at the door. It was the one person who they would never expect to see at these kinds of parties. It was-_

"Tsunade-sama?"

_Tsunade's PoV_

"Tsunade-sama?"

I smiled and waved at the people around me and they regarded me with shocked faces that slowly merged into smiles at the sudden appearance of their Hokage. It wasn't, after all, everyday that a Kage of any sort attends social gatherings but, after seeing an old friend, I was in a good mood and decided to go to the party. Most people carried on with whatever they were doing before I came in and some offered me a word or two of conversation or a greeting.

Naruto was conversing with Sai and the others were standing around, talking with random shinobi about nothing important. I walked over to the sensei's, who were standing with some older, or younger, Jounin and looked like they were having fun.

"Tsunade-sama, how good of you to join us!" Kakashi exclaimed happily. "Without your usual sake bottle I see." He said mockingly.

"Without your 'Icha, Icha' book I see." I retorted in an equally teasing tone. This earned a few laughs from the rest of the group and I grinned at grey haired man.

We continued to joke for a while until I walked over to another group of shinobi.

"Tsunade-sama!" Yelled Genma from across the room. I smiled and walked over to his group, which consisted of one konoichi and four shinobi. "You know Iruka, Anko, Shikato, Ibiki and Raidou, Right?"

"Yes, I know them." I replied kindly.

"Good, now, who has heard the newest gossip?" Genma asked sneakily. Everyone, including me, shook their heads in a puzzled manner. "Word on the town it, the Huntress has taken time off from Akatsuki and gone back to her old ways for a while." He explained.

Everyone looked at him sceptically, except me because I already knew.

"Are you sure Genma?" Anko asked.

"Yep, and what's more, she's being requested for hire all over the place!"

"No way!" Iruka said, surprise taking over his voice.

I left, to mingle with another group, and heard no more of their conversation. As I walked over to the senseis again, a glimmer of black caught my eye. I turned my head and saw Shinzune sitting in the shadows. There are three problems with this picture. One, Shinzune is back at the office doing paperwork for me. Two, her eyes are full of murderous intent. And three, it was Sakura.

I forced myself to choke down a yell to make her leave or show her true form but couldn't keep a worried look to glaze over my eyes. Worry for the village's safety and worry for the apprentice that I had once thought dead. When I looked again at the shadowed Henge, I found her gone. Shifting my head to look around the room, I saw no sign of her ever being here.

Sighing with sadness of her departure and I sat, on my own, with glass of water clasped in my hands. When I had seen her in my office, she told me something that I will never forget.

_**Flash Back**_

"_I've missed you so much!" I yelled as I enveloped the figure in a tight embrace and cried my heart out._

"_Tsunade, I came here because I was hired to, nothing more, nothing less." The figure stated coldly._

"_Sakura, where have you been? I thought that you were dead!"_

"_Akatsuki."_

_With that one word, my whole life crumbled. She was the enemy. My apprentice and daughter-like friend is now with the Akatsuki._

"_I used the name Tomito Kinikura to keep my identity a secret."_

_Kinikura. The person I had sent the teams to spy on. They told me that she held a strong resemblance to our pink-haired konoichi, but I refused to believe them. Oh how wrong I was._

"_How? Why?"_

"_They offered my training, a home, family and power. I was an assassin and was on the verge of getting shunned by the village. I took their offer and left with Itachi and Kisame."_

_I blinked._

_She smirked._

"_I must be going now Tsunade-_sama_, I have an appointment that I can't be late for. But before I go, I'll let you in on a little secret. If anyone gets in my way, I'll kill them. It won't matter who it is, I've already severed my bonds with the village. Also, when it's time for me to leave, do _not_ try to stop me."_

_She then disappeared in a whirlwind of black cherry blossoms._

_**End Flash Back**_

She had basically said that she is unafraid to kill without mercy, as is the way of the Akatsuki. I wondered if she really meant those things and, if she did, whether or not would she carry out her words if the time ever came.

Sakura was not one to be underestimated. The rest of the village would see her tomorrow and would be told of her part in winning the war. She was to teach stealth and other things at the academy. I chose this job for her because the things we teach genins-to-be are just the basics and if you wanted them to learn assassination techniques, you need to hire the best.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

The words spoken to me by the person I trusted, and still trust in a small way, with my life. I knew that Sakura was an assassin now. I knew she was heartless and held no emotion but, deep down, she could still be the little genin that I took under my wing and trained. Maybe.

_Sakura's PoV_

I had been sitting in the shadows in the corner of the room for some time now. No one noticed me, but I saw everyone else. Naruto, Kiba, Sasuke, Shino, Neji. Lee, Choji, Ino, Ten-ten and Hinata. I even saw Kankuro, Temari and Gaara.

Oh how I wanted to leave the shadows behind me and return like nothing had ever happened. How I wanted to go back in time and change things so that I never left to join the Akatsuki. I wanted to be a part of S.T.I.T.H again. The letters that stood for Sakura, Temari, Ino, Ten-ten and Hinata. I wonder if they changed it to T.I.T.H or just left it as it was, as a sign of hope for my return.

My Henge was of Shinzune, in case anyone should see me, but I still didn't think that I could keep up appearances if I can face-to-face with some of my old friends. I had told Tsunade that I had severed all of my bonds with the village, but it was all a lie. I could never -would never- abandon my friends into the darkest recesses of my mind forever.

There was someone standing with Naruto and the other members of the Konoha twelve. He looked a bit like Sasuke, the resemblance was almost frightening. He had dark hair and dark eyes. Some how, he seemed familiar, like I knew him from some where.

"Naruto, why are Ugly, Squeakers, Nine-nine and Fan-girl over here?" Questioned the strange new boy. He seemed to have re-named my konoichi friends. Ino was now Ugly, Hinata was Squeakers, Ten-ten was Nine-nine and Temari was Fan-girl. Normally, Fan-girl wouldn't be an insult to the Chunin of the sand, but the boy meant it in a way that means 'A girl who is a Fan' and Temari would take offence to being classed as a mindless, drooling _fan_.

I almost laughed at the seething looked plastered onto their faces after he said their nick-names. It was so ironic that Ino, after years of primping and beauty treatments, was labelled as ugly. As for the 'Nine-nine' thing, that was cleaver.

"Sai, I told you not to call me that!" The girls yelled at him simultaneously. _'Sai? Why does that sound so familiar?'_** 'Sai…Sai…Sai'** _'SAI! The one from my dreams!'_

I was officially freaked out now. Sai was in the same room as me. He was right in front of me. The boy I had dreamed of and recorded in my journal. He looked different than I remember but, it's positively him now that I think about it.

After I regained my compositor and lost all traces of shock I took a visual sweep of the room. I noticed that Tsunade was looking in my direction, blinking out of question and surprise. She blinked and I smirked. When she turned away for the briefest of seconds, I took my leave in a cluster of black cherry blossom petals.

When I re-appeared on the roof, I kept a constant surveillance of Konoha. The home I left behind. The home I forgot.

The home that what slowly dragging back to stay.


	23. An old friend and enemy, eh?

AN: Before I start this chapter, I would like to thank the following people for their reviews:

Rakero-chan  
Tac03e11hp  
YinYangWhiteTiger  
KazeRose  
StrawLate  
sakuraharuno-cherryblossom  
sn1ck3rD00dl3  
pinky101  
ElektratheAssassin0891  
firegirl08  
berry smoothie  
Gothic Saku-chan  
Narutokage  
Firerose1300  
BloodRenevant  
Sora Akari  
Ice-Black Dragon  
Fire Rogue Shinobi  
seguha  
fantagrl64  
SadowKitty  
EternalDeni  
dragongirl92  
A.b.  
tru-viet  
himeyuzuki  
cherryblossomsky  
lil'spaz  
Katherine Lins  
cocoapuffaddict  
Sanctii  
999Shikaku999  
Silent Kunoichi aka. Fiona  
EternalDeni

Enjoy The Story!

  
Chapter Twenty Two

_Red was everywhere. On my hands, face, the ground. Blood. I could make out the form of someone staggering towards me. They seemed to be holding theirs side and more of the red, sticky substance was pouring out of their wound. They were male, judging on the silhouette on the moon._

_The man collapsed on the grass not too far from where I was sitting. As I got closer I could make out some of his features but the most obvious was, by far, his eyes. They were half closed but I could still see the beautiful cerulean colour under the slowly-dropping lids._

"_Sakura, where are you." He called in agony. I moved closer and sat five meters away from him. He had brown hair and was wearing a mist ANBU uniform. "Sakura…" He called again. My curiosity got the better of my as I moved next to him, my knees to the right of his head and my smaller form hovering over his masculine one._

"_Who are you?" I asked without hesitation. I felt that I knew him from some where but I couldn't put my finger on it. I heard him chuckle but it came out as more of a pained sound that put strain on his chest and made him cough violently._

"_Don't you remember me?" He asked gently. I shook my head slowly, confusion taking over my mind. He chuckled, or tried to, again and placed his hand on top of my own, that had been placed near his ribs, on the ground, to steady myself. "It's me." My confusion only rose at his statement and he elaborated. "It's your handsome owl."_

_I gasped in surprise and jumped back. His wounds seemed to disappear as he rose and walked over to my small trembling body, which was sat on the floor with my left hand against my mouth out of shock. He looked down on my with his oceanic gaze and I found myself drowning in his eyes._

_He took a hold on my arm and picked my up, placing me on my own two feet, and smiled. I remembered that smile from years ago and had wished, with all my heart, to see it again. This time, however, when I saw his smile it seemed empty. My head was spinning and I tried to stop the oncoming headache._

"_Be calmed Bubble-gum." Cooed a soft female voice. _'The only person who calls me that is…'_ I looked towards my handsome owl to see that he was now replaced with a kind woman who had light red hair and blue-green eyes. It was…_

"_Mother!" I yelled as I hugged her. She laughed gently and returned the hug. "I missed you so much!" I cried. The tears refused to stop, but I didn't care. My mother was here. She was HERE. I saw her die but now she is with me again._

"_Now, now, candy-floss. You'll suffocate your mother if you don't let go, and anyway, I haven't gotten a hug yet." Stated an amused male voice. I released my mother, with much hesitation, and turned to the direction the voice had come from. A tall man with brown hair and grassy-green eyes stood, smiling at my mother and I, with his arms outstretched, anticipating a hug. I was happy to oblige as I ran to him and jumped into his arms._

"_Father! I missed you!" I yelled, never letting go. My mother walked over slowly and joined the hug. When I released them both they stood, staring at me. I had tears both in my eyes and streaming down my face. My parents were here. Both of them were with me._

"_Wake up Bubble-gum." Said my mother._

"_Mother?"_

"_It's time for you to leave Candy-floss." Agreed my father._

"_Father?"_

"_You don't belong here. You must return to the world of the living my child."_

"_Good luck, Candy-floss."_

"_Wake up."_

"_Wake up."_

"_Wake up."_

"_Wake up."_

"Wake up."

I shot out up and looked at my surroundings. I was in a tree in the training grounds, in Konoha. It was just a dream. My mother and father were dead. They will never come back. I remembered that I was not alone and I looked to my left, to see a small boy with spiky brown hair, a girl with Orange-red hair and another boy who also had brown hair, but his was a little lighter, and glasses. They were all wearing a Konoha forehead protector and seemed to be around eleven years old.

I knew him from somewhere. _'Why does everyone look familiar and I can't remember their names?!'_

"I'm Konohamaru! These are my team mates, Moegi and Udon! Who are you?" Asked the brown-haired boy. The girl, Moegi, looked a little nervous and moved a bit closer to the light brown-haired boy, Udon. She seemed to have a small glint of recognition in her eyes when I turned to her. She shrank further behind Udon and he backed off a little as well.

I smirked and turned back to Konohamaru with a lazy, but cold, stare. He flinched but remained where he stood. _'Good boy. He stands his ground. That's more than I can say for his team. To think, a few years ago, I would be doing exactly the same a Moegi, but I would have done it to Sasuke and he wouldn't have backed off with me.'_**'Man, these kids are so weak! Shannaro!'** _'Wow. You haven't said that in a while.'_ **'Said what?' **_'Shannaro!' _**'There's a very good reason for that! Shannaro!' **_'What would that be?' _**'…I cannot tell you for fear of my life…'** _'Little Saku-chan?' **'Hee. All I did was say "If you say that annoying word once more I will rip you from the fabric of Sakura's mind and banish you into a vortex of pain and despair, where you will life for the rest of you pitiful days" nothing too serious.' **_**'…' **_'…I don't know either one of you…'_

"Hey lady! Answer my question! WHO ARE YOU?!" Konohamaru yelled, loosing his patients.

"Be less irritable in future, genin. You never know who you're directing your anger at." I hissed, successfully scarring all three genins until they backed away one or two steps so that I could get up. I stood on the branch and stared down at them, pity found it's was into my mind and I sneered at their show of fear. Fear was weakness, weakness was death.

"M-Maybe we should leave K-Konohamaru-kun." Moegi said in a small fearful voice, still cowering behind Udon, who nodded his head in silent agreement.

"Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon. You three know Naruto don't you?" It was more of a statement but it came out as a question never-the-less.

"Yes we do! How do you know Naruto-sama?" Questioned Konohamaru carefully.

"Did he ever tell you about his team?" I asked. The three nodded, so I continued. "Did you ever meet them?" Three more nods were let loose to my query. "What did they look like?"

"The man, Uchiha Sasuke, he had blue-black hair that was spiky at the back and he also had dark eyes with light skin." Came the answer, from Moegi this time. She continued when I turned to her. "The girl on his team… her name was Haruno Sakura and she was, and still is, my hero." My eyes softened when I heard this, but she carried on. "She had pretty green eyes, pale skin and… pink… hair." She finished as she eyed my hair. Realisation struck her like a bolt of lightening. "Y-You're her! You're S-Sakura-sama!"

'**_-Sama?'_**_'We met when Naruto took me out for ramen. She and I had a talk since we were the only girls, and she claimed to want to be strong like me when she grew up. She started to call me "Sakura-sama" just like how Konohamaru calls Naruto "Naruto-sama" and she always said that I was her hero.'** 'Oh…'**_

The boys eyed their female team mate warily and then turned back to me before they too noticed who I was. Konohamaru had always asked me to talk with him whenever he was upset because he knew that, if he talked to anyone else, they would laugh or call him weak. His problems were always about how he liked Moegi and wanted to tell her, but was too afraid of rejection. Udon and I often talked about math problems and I sometimes helped him with some of the harder equations. However, as hard as I tried, I couldn't picture them as genin on a mission. _'I wonder who their team leader is…'_

"Sakura-sama!" They all yelled as the jumped on me, knocking all of us off of the tree and into a heap on the ground. I could have just used some chakra to stay up or dodged, but then they would have to suffer the pain of falling face first onto the hard ground.

"It's good to see you all again. I do, however, have one question… Who is your sensei?" I asked. They seemed to fidget around for a while until Udon finally answered.

"Ebisu-sensei." He told me. I almost burst out laughing.

"That closet-perv is your sensei!" I yelled amongst my fits of laughter.

"Nice to know that you find my station as head of this team funny miss…"

I turned my body around, only to come face-to-chest, _'did I mention how much I HATE being so much shorter that all of the guys I turn around to face'_, with Ebisu himself.

"Sakura, Haruno Sakura." I told him. His eyes widened behind his black-out glasses and I smirked. "I have to get going. I've got a meeting with the Hokage that I can't miss. Bye Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi-chan! It was nice seeing you all again!" I said as I disappeared in bombardment of black petals that danced like little ballerinas in the wind.

When I re-appeared outside of the Hokage's office, I balanced on her window ledge. She was inside with the Konoha twelve, minus me, the senseis and that Sai-guy. Also in the room were Shinzune, Shiranui Genma, Hayate Gekko, Mitarashi Anko, Morini Ibiki, Namiashi Raidou and Yamashiro Aoba. The sand-siblings, Gaara, Kankuro and Temari, all stood by the door to the room with a seemingly bored look glued to their un-moving faces.

'_I wonder why Tsunade needed to get so many ninja here.'_

"I gathered you all here because of a person who is coming back to the village to complete a contract with us." Said Tsunade from behind her desk.

'_Oh. That's why.'_

Inside the Hokage's office

"Now, everyone calm down!" Tsunade yelled, wondering what force on earth ever made her consider bringing so many ninja into her office all at the same time. She felt a familiar chakra on her window, but it soon masked itself, _'That's why.'_

"I gathered you all here because of a person who is coming back to the village to complete a contract with us." She said from behind her desk. "I would like you all to know who it is before they come in."

"Just tell us Tsunade-baa-chan! We can't take the suspense!" Naruto yelled from the back of the room, not liking to be anything but the centre of attention.

"Yeah Tsunade-sama. Tell us who it is already! We have better thing to do than sit around here, waiting, all day!" Kiba shouted, trying to gain more attention then Naruto, but only succeeding in getting a hit from Kurenai, his sensei, for being rude and disrespectful to the Hokage. Naruto got a good laugh out of this but everyone soon quietened down to listen to what Tsunade had to say.

"This person is- arg" Tsunade held her head in her hands as she tried to get rid of her headache. Only, it wasn't a headache, as she now realised, it was a warning. _"Tell them who I am and you will suffer pain much worse than this."_ Said a voice inside her mind.

"Tsunade-sama, are you alright?" Came the worried voice of Shinzune.

"I'm fine, just a headache. It's passed now. Anyway, this person is," she stopped. Tsunade had two choices, one- She could name her and suffer pain but, at the same, time end the inner turmoil of unknowingness within her friends, or two- call her by a different name. Another jolt of pain was sent though her skull and she winced. "This person is Tomito Kinikura." _'I am so weak.'_ She thought to herself.

Several things happened once those words passed her lips. People gasped, gossiped, whispered. However, the most recognisable thing that happened was the window flying open to revel a shadow full of murderous intent and with hands drenched in the blood of many.

"Hello again everyone."

_Sakura's PoV_

I listened in on the whole exchange of words between the ninja's and the Hokage of the leaf village. She was interrupted many times by random ninja who made a comment for the pure intention of being paid attention to. Naruto was, of course, one of them and so was Kiba, but he was quiet after Kurenai hit him in the head and shushed him. I actually laughed at that small display, though it was quiet so I didn't attract any attention from the villagers of the people below me.

"This person is-" Tsunade was actually planning to tell them who I was! _'Not if I can help it'_ "-arg" Tsunade held her head in her hands as she tried to lower the pain of my mind message. Only, it wasn't so much of a message as it was a warning. _"Tell them who I am and you will suffer pain much worse than this."_ I said in her mind, thus making her stop and think before she continued.

"Tsunade-sama, are you alright?" _'Ah, Shinzune, as caring as ever. It makes me sick'_.

"I'm fine, just a headache. It's passed now. Anyway, this person is," Tsunade paused, reflecting, once more, on what I had told her. She, apparently, wasn't sure of whether or not to chance or challenge what I had said to her. I smirked as I sent a jolt of pain though her skull as a small reminder of the pain I could inflict. "This person is Tomito Kinikura." _'Good girl.'_

I smirked. People were stunned at her words and I was glad that she hadn't made up a new alias altogether. With that name, I had something to work with. So, using my new jutsu, cortices of the snake-sanin himself, I changed my appearance into that of Tomito Kinikura, the heartless assassin, Huntress.

My pink hair turned darker and my bangs became black. Purple highlights graced my silky strands and I let my hair fall down, it now went right down to the bottom of my back, while my outfit became a red tank top with my insignia on the back and a black netted top over it. A red mini-skirt with slits going up both sides and black under shorts adorned my lower half with some black knee high ninja sandal/boots. My usual amethyst teardrop pendent hung from my neck, underneath my black choker that had four silver crosses with rubies in the centre of each hanging off of it. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the bracelet that Naruto had given to me a while back that was now one of my Huntress jewels. I even put on the silver ring that had a beautiful blue sapphire on it in the shape of a rose and 'Sakura' engraved on the back that Sasuke had given to me shortly after I received the bracelet from Naruto. The bracelet was a silver chain with rose quartz gems hanging off of it in the shape of cherry Blossoms. After activating my Zoneingan, as Kinikura's eyes are a trade marked purple colour and I don't use my normal eyes around other people, I opened the window, stepped inside and closed it again with a slam, causing every to focus their attention on me.

"Hello again everyone." I said in a sickly sweet voice that was also frighteningly cold at the same time.

"Kini-chan?" Naruto asked hesitantly. "Is that really you?"

"Yes, it's me, fox." I replied coolly. "Good to see you again."

"KINI-CHAN!" Kiba yelled whilst hugging me.

"Hi dog-boy." I managed to say, with some difficulty due to lack of oxygen.

"Let go of her baka, she can't breathe!" Kankuro exclaimed as he approached us. "Hey Kini-chan!"

"Sup Neko!" I said, raising my hand as a form of greeting.

"What about us Kini-chan?" I turned my head and spotted Neji, Sasuke, Shino, Gaara and Shikamaru standing by, waiting to be greeted.

"Hey White-eyes, Chicken-head, Bugsy, Sunshine!" I hollered across with a small smirk. "Maybe we can play shoji again Pineapple-head!" I addressed Shikamaru as my way of greeting him. I expected them to respond with a nod of the head or a 'hn' but I wasn't ready for their sudden approach, followed by a hug from each of them.

To say that this display shocked the rest of the people in the room would be the understatement of the century. Everyone here knew now that the boys had left to spy on the Akatsuki and were found out. They all thought that there would be a big fight when I saw them. The last thing they expected to see was me, the Akatsuki _princess_, hugging them and saying that I 'missed' them.

"Kini-chan, I want you to meet some friends of mine later okay?" Naruto asked cutely.

"Sure thing fox." I replied. The boys were all glad that I didn't hate them and that I was still using their nick-names. If I did dislike them at all then I probably would have called them by their last names and, depending on how _much_ I disliked them, I would have added a '-san' or 'teme', or something, onto the end of that as well.

Tsunade told everyone to settle down and all became silent once more, with me standing in a small crowd, with the spies, in the front of the room. She cleared her throat a few times and seemed hesitant to say what she had to say next. I knew the truth though. She had planned this whole speech around 'Sakura' but now she had to change it to match 'Kinikura' and was having a hard time cutting out and adding parts of the speech to match who she was now talking about. She cleared her throat once more and began.

"Kinikura will be teaching assassination at the academy for one week of her three month contract." She said.

"Three months! Can't you stay any longer than that Kini-chan?!" Naruto interrupted. I chuckled and shook my head, causing him to pout. After I smiled reassuringly at my blonde friend I signalled to Tsunade that she could continue, and she did.

"Anyway, after that week, she will join a few high ranking mission and help in the war effort. She has promised not to harm anyone in the village unless they harm and/or harass her first." I rolled my eyes, _'She's twisting my words'_ I concluded with a smirk. "Also, if anyone would like to take lessons in anything to do with the skills that she possesses then she has agreed to teach them to a certain extent. She will also need a place to stay as the hotels are full. Will anyone volunteer?" All of the boys raised their hands but Naruto raised his first and began to jump up and down. "Naruto, you're already housing Temari, Gaara and Kankuro. You can't take in another person. Your flat is too small. Anyone else?" This time, Kiba was the first to raise his hand out of the others. "Alright Inuzuka, she'll stay with you. That is all. You are dismissed."

Everyone hurried out of her office and all of them left, except the sand-siblings, the senseis, the Konoha twelve and Sai. Naruto instantly took me by the arm and lead my over to the group of ninja and I couldn't help but feeling out-of-place. Not only did they all have forehead protectors that held no mark of betrayal, but they all had somewhere they belonged, where as I just wondered around. Going from place to place.

"Okay Kini-chan, I would like you to meet my friends!" He yelled. "These lovely ladies, there not actually lovely, just scary," He said, whispering the last part before he continued. "They are Sabaku no Temari, Ten-ten, Hyuuga Hinata and Yamanaka Ino!" He told me, pointing to each of the konoichis respectively.

"Next up is Choji and Lee. Me, Choji, Lee and the others, not including the sand-sibs, senseis or Sai, are the Konoha twelve!" He yelled proudly.

"Twelve? There are only eleven of you." I said questioningly. I wasn't stupid enough to forget who the last member was, I was just curious as to why they didn't change into the Konoha eleven. _'Unless Sai was my replacement'_ I thought sadly. Naruto's eyes became clouded with sadness.

"Well, there was another member but… she's not with us any more. We choose to stay as the Konoha twelve to preserve a memory of her, just like the konoichis of the twelve and Temari kept their konoichi group name as S.T.I.T.C.H instead of getting rid of the 's'."

"I see."

"Anyway. You should meet the senseis now! Oh, and Sai too!" He grabbed my hand again and I saw a blush staining his cheeks as he dragged me past the remaining members of the Konoha twelve and the sand-siblings to the group of Jounin. "This is Sai! He was a part of team seven and we re-named ourselves to the Konoha thirteen for a while but, in the end, we choose to change it back and when Sai became a Jounin, and then ANBU, he quit the team. We never wanted to replace our team mate so he stayed a close friend to the group, just like the sand-siblings! He specializes in paint based jutsus." I sent a small smile to Sai, which he returned, and he looked like he was contemplating something.

"Kinikura, how did you think of those names? You know, for the ones who were sent to spy on you and the Akatsuki." Sai questioned.

"I don't know… I guess that I just choose names based on their personalities or appearance." I answered thoughtfully.

"Hmmm. I will call you **Ryoushi!" He told me. Ryoushi just mean hunter, so I knew why he called me that.**

**"HOW COME SHE GETS A NICE NAME!?" Ino, Ten-ten, Hinata and Temari yelled.**

**"Then I'll call you… Ekaki" I declared, ignoring the shouts and complaints of the konoichis. Ekaki meant painter and so I thought that it would match him quite well. Sai smiled and Naruto dragged me off again.**

"Now where is… oh, there he is! Kini-chan, meet mine and Sasuke's sensei, Kakashi!" I waved a little and he smiled under his mask but, before he could say anything, Naruto dragged me off to meet someone else. _'I wish we could tell him that we already knew all of these people!'_ **'But that would blow our cover!'**_ 'Wow. You actually said something smart! Go inner!' _**'I'm not inner.' **_'But, who…' _**'Inner was being stupid and she switched places with me… I'm little Saku-chan.' **_'O-Kay.'** 'HEY! Don't blame this on me! Shannaro!'** 'Weird…'_ I exited my inner/Saku-chan conversation and left them to sort out there little problem on their own while Naruto yanked off my arm as he took me over to see the other senseis.

"Hey, Guys…" Naruto received a scowl, "And girl." He finished sheepishly. "I would like to introduce to you, Asuma-sensei, Gai-sensei and Kurenai-sensei!" I nodded to each of them in turn and they smiled warmly. _'I don't deserve this.'_ **'Don't deserve what?'** _'…'_ **'It's me, Inner!' **_'You're back to normal now?' **'Yeah, no thanks to you!'** 'Well, anyway, I don't deserve their kindness. I'm a killer and a liar!'_ Neither Inner nor Saku-chan replied to this and they both remained silent.

"Everyone!" The blonde boy yelled, getting the attention of all the people I knew or had just been re-introduced to. "I would like you to meet, Tomito Kinikura, or you can call her Kini-chan if you like!" he yelled out. Everyone turned to me with a smile that I felt I didn't deserve and I lowered my head in silent shame.

When I raised my head from the ground I nodded politely to everyone and, not five seconds later, I was being dragged off again by a blonde. Just as I was about to yell at Naruto for grabbing me again I was confronted by the smiling face of Ino, who was currently dragging me over to the small group of konoichis.

"The baka already introduced us but I thought that, since you _are_ a konoichi, you should meet the rest of us personally." She said as she came to a halt in front of the other three female Chunin. She held out her hand before continuing, "I'm Yamanaka Ino! I'm currently a Chunin" she boasted proudly. I took her hand and shook it gently.

"H-Hyuuga Hinata, I am also a Chunin, like Ino-chan." Said the Hyuuga heiress shyly, however instead of a hand shake she bowed respectfully to me, as was a Hyuuga custom when you meet someone who is stronger or of a higher statues than yourself. Even though I didn't have to, I bowed back, though not as deeply as she did.

"My name is Ten-ten. I have no last name but I'm a Chunin, just like my friends." She said as she smiled gently at me. I smiled back but it came out as a half-smirk, since that was as close to a smile as I could go. I was rather impressed by the fact that both Ino and Hinata took the Chunin exams and passed. Hinata wasn't really a shock and Ten-ten was an obvious pick for Chunin, but Ino was such a fan girl, I thought that she would remain a genin forever. No insult intended of course.

"Sabaku no Temari. It is you pleasure to meet me." She stated in a friendly way, as if we had been friends for years and not just minuets, as she thought we had. It was kind of nice to be accepted so quickly and it made me wonder if they really _would_ have shunned me when they found out before I left for the Akatsuki.

Temari always was a friendly person. After she learned to trust Konoha of course. "I'm a Chunin as well. What about you?" Temari always was a 'let's be blunt and get to the point already' sort of person and I had always admired that about her, even if I did find it a little bit amusing.

"I'm Tomito Kinikura. S-class assassin and criminal. Um… I guess that I'm just a bit higher than an ANBU black-op level. According to my friends at least." I said thoughtfully. The other girls stared at me with wide-eyes. I guess that they expected me to be a Jounin, or Chunin like them. Itachi and Sasori did seem a bit surprised when leader announced my level to them, since Itachi is only at the same level of a regular ANBU, and Kisame, Deidara and Tobi threw me a party. I guess that, at the time, I didn't think that it was very high because of the people I was with. The Akatsuki are all _very_ powerful, after all.

"Above…" Ten-ten said in a daze.

"…ANBU…" Ino carried on in the same manner.

"…Black-op…" Hinata said, almost finishing it, shyly.

"…Level." Temari concluded.

I nodded in response and they snapped out of their daze to question me further. I made a mental note to leave any and all question that could harm Akatsuki un-answered but still answered as many as I could.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Are you stronger than Itachi?"

"Yes."

"Are you the _strongest_ in the Akatsuki?"

"Yes."

"Is your base close to here?"

"…"

"Are you the only girl in the Akatsuki?"

"Yes."

"Is there more than one base?"

"…"

"Who told you your level?"

"Leader."

"How many members are there?"

"…"

"Do you want to come to a sleepover round my house tomorrow night?" Ino asked me.

"Um… Sure?" I answered unsurely.

"Great!" She yelled enthusiastically and left, with Temari and Ten-ten, to spread word of all of the answers to the questions, if I answered them. That left Hinata and I alone to talk for a while.

"W-when we met; I bowed to you to show my respect, since I could sense that you were a much greater levelled ninja than I." Hinata started. I nodded, showing her that I was listening, and she continued. "You bowed back as a sign of respect to me, even though I am not as strong as you. Why?"

"I bowed to show my respect to a strong ninja." I stated simply. Her confusion showed though her features. "Have you been told about how I know your friend, Haruno?" She nodded. "Well, she told me about all of you. Not Sai because, I assume, she didn't know him, but she _did_ tell me about all of you. When she told me of the Hyuuga heiress, Hyuuga Hinata, she spoke of a fragile girl who was physically weak and emotionally unstable. I first thought of you as a waste of ninja training when she said that." Hinata lowered her head in shame. I sighed and continued. "I told her what I thought of you and she corrected me immediately." The pale girl rose her head and looked at me in puzzlement and wonder. "She said that, although you physical skills are lacking, you have a great inner strength and, when needed, you have unbeatable determination matched with a strong heart and a powerful will. Your unstable emotions are one of you strongest points that make you kind and able to fight for you friends and family without regret and with the utmost determination. That, Hyuuga Hinata, is why I bowed my respects to you."

She looked at me and I instantly noticed something different about her eyes. They where no longer the shy little eyes of the fragile Hyuuga heiress they were filled with a new light. Something that she had never displayed, not even during her match with Neji in the Chunin exams. Her eyes held pure confidence in herself and her own abilities.

"Thank you Kini-chan." She said, without a stutter. I smiled and nodded.

"Kini-chan, everyone is so jealous of you power level. Even Gai! And Lee just proclaimed his love for you so you better watch it! Hey, what's up? Why are you two so quiet all of a sudden?" Ino babbled when she came back.

"It's because you're talking over them baka. So, why are you two so quiet? Did you get into a fight?" Questioned Ten-ten.

"They're probably just dreading ever meeting you two. You talk so much! It's so annoying!" Temari added playfully when she took her place to my right and stared at the girls.

"No, we were just talking." Hinata stated to them.

"Talking about what?" Ino asked slyly.

"Nothing of importance." I told them. "I need to find Kiba…"

"Why? Were you two talking about how you need to confess you love for dog-breath?" Ten-ten asked, smirking at my tiny blush.

"No! I'm staying at his place, remember?" I told them matter-of-factly. Ten-ten and Ino made 'o' shapes with their mouths when realisation struck them. "Do you know where he is?"

"He's by the door with Neji and Shino." Ten-ten informed my.

I nodded and headed over to where she told me he was and, sure enough, I found the dog-nin talking with Neji and Shino. He seemed to be uninterested by the conversation and when he saw me he mouthed the words 'Help me'. I laughed slightly and walked over to them. When I got there Neji and Shino noticed me and were about to include me in their little chat, but I stopped them.

"Kiba, can we go now? I'm getting kind of tired and I need to pack for a sleep-over at Ino's house tomorrow." I said to the dog-boy. He nodded his head vigorously and we said our good byes. Kiba seemed ecstatic that he had managed to escape but also confused. I noted that her kept looking around, both on the ground and in the air. "What are you looking for?" I asked, getting slightly annoyed at his constant movement.

"Where are Morokie, Toro and Hinichi?" He asked puzzled. I remembered that he had actually been quite fond of the animals and they seemed to attack him less than any of the other people they were around. They also seemed to have made a friendship with Akamaru and all of the animals spent much of their time together at the base. My three friends were very upset at the sudden departure of Kiba and Akamaru but were overjoyed at the thought of coming with my to see them again.

I had decided to keep them hidden in the shadows until I needed them but, hopefully, no one would mind having the murderous, but admittedly cute, creatures around. I turned to Kiba with a genuine smile and emitted a slow, deep, eerie whistle. This was my way to call them. It was hard to hear with human senses alone but could be heard by and beast or beast-nin with five hundred meters. Because of my Zoneingan I could also hear and use the low whistle. _'Zoneingan, I haven't turned that off since Naruto and the others joined Akatsuki. I kept it on so that they wouldn't get suspicious.'_

Morokie, Toro and Hinichi soon appeared by my feet and Akamaru leapt out of Kiba's coat. The four started to run around us, forcing us to get closer. By the time they had gotten us to move within a few mere centimetres of each other Akamaru moved behind Kiba and Toro moved behind me. Toro pushed on the back of my legs and I was sent towards Kiba while he tried to step back so that he could catch me before we both fell. Unfortunately, his plan was ruined by a small white dog tripping him so that we both fell onto the ground.

When we realised what was happening we were both on the ground. I was on top of Kiba with by head on his chest and his arms were wrapped protectively around my waist. We both blushed a deep cherry red as we got up. I scowled at Toro who was trying, and succeeding, to look like the perfect picture of innocents. Akamaru, in great contrast to the excellent acting skills of my tiger, looked as guilty as a child who had been caught with their hand stuck inside the cookie jar.

Kiba and I carried on walking to his house with the animals slowly trailing behind us. We were silent the whole way and it was starting to get a little awkward. When we reached his house I breathed a sigh of relief. _'At least the embarrassment to finally over now.'_ I thought to myself. The door swung open to reveal a woman with the same brown hair and eyes as Kiba, except her hair was spiked and a bit more out-of-control than his and her eyes had heavy black eyeliner surrounding them. She also had the clan's trademark fangs and facial markings, just as Kiba did.

"Inuzuka Kiba! Just where have you been young man?! Do you know how worried I was?" The woman yelled at him before turning and looking at me. "Hello, dear. I'm Inuzuka Tsume, Kiba's mother. Nice to meet you." She said calmly. I just smiled nervously at her and she turned back to Kiba. "Kiba! Why didn't you tell me that you had a girlfriend?" We both turned red again at her statement.

"She's not my girlfriend mom! She's just a very good friend who _happens_ to be a girl. That's it!" Coming from Kiba, a 'very good friend' was always a good thing. "Her name is Tomito Kinikura and she's staying with us while she works with Tsunade-sama."

"Kinikura? As in, the assassin?" Asked a voice from behind his mother curiously. I nodded slowly and looked at the speaker to observed her reaction. She had long brown hair that was held in a pony tail and the markings of her clan on either cheek. "I'm Hana, Kiba's big sister. So _you must_ be the girl who Kiba wouldn't stop talking about when he got back from his mission." This time Kiba turned redder than a red thing with red things all over it. **'Huh?'**_ 'I'm running out of analogies, sue me.'_** 'Well…'**_ 'Actually, don't sue me. I couldn't afford the fine.'_

After a talk with his sister she showed me to the guest room, which was to the right of Kiba's room and down the hall to her own, and left me to unpack. Hana was actually a very nice person and a respected veterinarian. She asked if she could examine Toro, Morokie and Hinichi sometime, since she had never examined a ninja trained tiger or hawk and she seemed to just like Morokie, most likely because wolves _are_ a part of the canine family.

My room was quite plain with red walls and a black carpet and ceiling. I finished unpacking and re-packing for Ino's sleep over. Soon after, I fell asleep of the white bed and drifted into a dreamless sleep.


	24. Younger Siblings

Chapter Twenty Three

When I woke up, the sun was rising with me. _'Dawn.'_ **'Why are we up so early?'** _'I don't know. I just woke up.' **'We could train.' **'Good idea. Thanks little Saku-chan.' **'He-he.'**_ I got out of bed and walked out of my temporary bedroom, down the hall and into the bathroom. When I got there I had a shower and brushed my hair and teeth. I walked back to my room, clad in a towel, praying that Kiba didn't wake up and walk out of his room any time soon.

When I got back to my room, I pulled out my clothes draws quietly and began to scan the piles of material and fabric for regular training clothes. The reason I had fabrics and materials in there was because a hobby of mine was to make my own clothes. I choose a plain black tank top and some black cycle shorts, with my black sandals and my black-banded protector, and left.

After walking down the streets, trying to remember every inch of the village I betrayed for the organisation of criminals, it was about three in the morning. I glided down the path to the training grounds and memories began to hit me. Hard.

_**Series of Flash backs**_

"_Sakura-chan! Do you want to train with me?"_

"_Go away Naruto-baka!"_

_**Flash**_

"_Sakura-sama, can you teach me to hit the target?"_

"_Sure thing Moegi-chan! You keep both eyes open and…"_

_**Flash**_

"_Sakura-san, your parents have been killed by rogue shinobi. I'm sorry."_

'Aunty, Uncle.'

_**Flash**_

"_Sakura-chan, my wrist hurts!"_

"_Come here Naruto, I'll heal it for you."_

"_Thanks Sakura-chan!"_

_**End flash backs**_

I held my head in my hands and, to reduce the pain, poured chakra into it. _'All those memories.'_ I looked up and realised that I had reached the training grounds. Smirking at the field that I hadn't trained in since I sparred Sasuke and revealed my Zoneingan, I pulled out some kunai from my pouch and began throwing them at the targets, hitting each with a dead-on bull's-eye.

"_She's good!"_ I heard someone whisper in the trees. They seemed to only be an academy student so I ignore it and continued training.

"_I'm better than _her_!" _Another person whispered back.

"Want to test that theory?" I asked the foliage that the children were hiding in. after my inquiry the bushes stared to shuffle and four seven-to-eight year olds stepped out. I shook my head and smirked, going back to training.

"HEY! I said that I could do better! Aren't you gonna challenge me?" Asked an obnoxious you boy with brown hair and soft, grey eyes, full of too much emotion for a ninja.

"I don't challenge midgets who can't even control their own emotions." I replied coolly. The boy fumed and grabbed a kunai. He charged at me but I just stood in place. When he came within half a meter of my I moved behind him faster than the eye could see. I grabbed his armed hand and made him drop the kunai. Eh spun around when I released him and looked me in the eye. Innocent grey clashed with murderous purple and he began to quake in fear.

"H-How did you m-move so f-fast?" He stuttered, reminding me of Hinata when we were twelve.

"Taijutsu." I told him.

"B-But, not even Gai-sensei is _that_ f-fast!" He stated in awe and admiration.

"I'm faster." I replied simply. The other three kids began to approach me, but stopped beside the brunette boy. I just sighed and shook my head. "Shouldn't you three be at home?"

"My brothers and I don't have a home." Said a small, brown-haired girl with blue eyes. I looked at her sadly. Her brothers, the brunette and two boys, who looked like twins, with sandy blonde, looked at me suspiciously. The only way to the twins apart was that one had grey eyes. Like his brother, and the other had blue, like his sister. I deducted that she was their younger sister and sighed again.

"Where do you live?" I asked the twins grey eyed twin.

"Around." He replied. I just looked at them for a while and sighed again.

"Do you want to train with me?" I questioned slowly. The four seemed to glow with happiness and grinned widely.

"Sure!" They replied simultaneously.

"Show me your weapons." I said. They pulled out some blunt kunai and shuriken that had cracks in the blades. I stared in wonder at the weapons. _'Is it even possible to have weapons _that_ blunt?'_ "What happened to these?"

"We pick them up from the floor and stuff, since we can't afford to buy any." Twin number two told me.

"How about this, I'll give all of you new, sharp weapons and you tell me your names." I suggested.

"I'm Terrane." The girl, Terrane, told me.

"Karene." Stated the brunette boy.

"Ryiko." Said the blue eyed twin with a cheeky grin.

"Tyiko." The other pronounced with his own, identical grin.

"Okay. I'm Tomito Kinikura." I said, handing them each two kunai and five shuriken.

"The ASSASSIN?" Ryiko and Tyiko yelled together.

"Yep. How about I teach you how to use these?" I suggested to the kids. They nodded vigorously. "Okay. The trick is to keep _both_ eyes open and focus just _above_ the bulls-eye. Got it?"

"Hai, Kinikura-sama!" The boys shouted and got to work throwing. Ryiko missed the target completely, Tyiko hit the tree. The tree that was three feet away from his target. Karene, on the other hand, hit just above the target and seemed to be _very_ proud of himself. I noticed that Terrane wasn't joining in and walked over to her.

"What's wrong Terrane?" I asked softly.

"You're an assassin, aren't you meant to be cold and hateful? Why are you helping us, and-and being so kind to us?"

"Easy. I like you guys, you remind me of, well, me! When I was younger, that is." She smiled at me and I took her shuriken armed hand. We aimed it together and I let go of her arm. She threw it and it hit the very centre of the bulls-eye, just as mine had earlier. She stared, wide-eyed, at her shuriken and began to do her own little victory dance. I smiled at her and we continued training.

About five hours later I had learned that Terrane was six, the twins, Ryiko and Tyiko, were both eight, although Tyiko claims to be three minuets older, and Karene was the oldest, at nine. I had taught them how to control enough chakra to climb a tree with no hands, the twins were the better ones at that task, some more target practice, where Terrane became the best out of her and her siblings, and finally, speed, in which Karene was the superior to his younger brothers and sister. I had decided to do introductions, much like Kakashi had done to Naruto, Sasuke and I on our first day as a team.

"Hey guys, why don't we each say a little bit about ourselves." I said.

"Like what?" Questioned Ryiko.

"Like our names, likes, dislikes hobbies and dreams for the future." I got four puzzled faces in response and I sighed. "I'll go first. My name is Tomito Kinikura. I like… not a lot actually… um… oh! I like training and shoji. I dislike a lot of things… too many to name. My hobbies include training and… my job." I said. They knew what meant by 'my job' but it made them nervous to remember that they were hanging around with the number one assassin in and out of the bingo books. "My dreams for the future are to be able to reveal my hidden self. Next up can be… how about we go in age order, oldest to youngest. Karene, your up first."

"Fine. My name's Karene. I like hanging out with my siblings and… training and talking to Kini-nee-san. I dislike it when people bully my little sister because she's smaller that most kids her age. My hobbies are running and playing with my brothers and sister. My dream for the future is that Tyiko, Ryiko, terrene and I can live happily instead of on the street." He proclaimed. I smiled at his dream and we moved on to Tyiko.

"I am to great Tyiko! I like being the best ninja I can be, my family and my new friend, Kini-nee-san! Oh, and DANGO! I dislike it when people make fun of my precious people and dis the dango of goodness." I mentally rolled my eyes at this. _'Is he going to be the same with dango as Naruto is with ramen?'_ "My hobbies are pranks. Jokes, training to get better and… EATING DANGO!" **'That would be a yes.'** "My dream is for my siblings and I to have someone to look after us."

"Me next! I'm the greater than Tyiko, Ryiko, who is greater that Tyiko. I like being strong, Kini-nee-san and vanilla ice cream. I dislike people messing with Terrane and I also HATE it when people let vanilla ice cream melt." _'Oh no. Not another one.'_ "My hobbies are playing shoji and reading. NOT! My _real_ hobbies are pranks, jokes and training… AND EATING VANILLA ICE CREAM! My dream for the future is to meet someone who loves me and my family, and who would take us in and give us a home."

"I guess that it's me now then. My name is Terrane and I like reading and training. I also like to help my older brothers, Ryiko and Tyiko, plan pranks and my new shisuta (Sister), Kini-nee-san. I dislike having to be protected all the time and my dream is to become strong enough to protect myself and my family. I would also like to have someone to take care of me as well as my brother and my hobbies are reading and helping my brothers with pranks."

"Well, I can make one of your dreams come true. How about I take you in?" I said calmly. They looked at me as if I had grown another head before grinning like mad and leaping on me. When they had gotten over my promise of family, we picked up the discarded weapons and I tucked them away in my pouch. It was around seven when we were done cleaning the fields and some of the genin teams would be arriving soon. I decided that I would rather get me new little siblings out of the training ground _before_ they became human pin-cushions.

When we left I asked them if they wanted to go to Ichiruka and get some ramen, then I would take them to get whatever dessert they wanted. They screamed their happy, positive responses at me and we set off for the ramen bar. After choosing a booth in the back, the same one that Naruto and Sasuke sat in when I set the blonde up with Hinata, and ordered our ramen. The twins had chicken while Terrane and Karene had pork. I chose some miso and we all asked for some water to drink, since training had left us thirsty as well as hungry.

"KINI-CHAN!" Someone yelled from the street. I looked out of the window to see a flustered Kiba and remembered that I had left his house without any previous warning or a note. I suddenly felt very guilty but I heard my siblings started to giggle/laugh at the dog-nin.

"What's funny?" I asked snappily.

"Is that your b-boyfriend?" Karene asked, struggling to hold in his laughter.

"NO!" I yelled over the table at him. He and his brothers sniggered and Terrane giggled again as Kiba burst in though the door and ran over to our table.

"Kini-chan. I was so worried and- who are the brats?" He asked, noticing the smaller children or 'brats' as he so affectionately called them, for the first time.

"We're NOT **BRATS**!" They all screamed at him. He recoiled and held his hands in front of himself defensively.

"Okay, okay, sorry. Anyway, Kini-chan, were where you? I looked _everywhere_!"

"I was at the training grounds with my doubou (Brothers), Karene, Ryiko and Tyiko, and my shisuta, Terrane." I replied.

"You have siblings?" He asked confused. "You never mentioned them."

"I just adopted them. I have to talk to Tsunade about taking them in as my siblings for real and getting a house for us later."

"Does that mean that you'll stay in Konoha?" He questioned hopefully.

"No. _If_ I _do_ leave, I'll either ask Hinata to look after the kids for me or take them to the Akatsuki when I go. If I don't, I simply want a place to live." I responded calmly. The four minors looked at me oddly when I spoke about taking them to the Akatsuki with me but I gave them a 'We'll-talk-about-it-later' look and we silently agreed on it.

"Okay. Oh yeah! Tsunade-sama wants to see you _right now_." He told me. I sighed and got up, dropping enough money for all the ramen onto the counter and giving some to Kiba.

"Take them to get dango and ice cream. I'll meet you in the park in two hours. Don't hurt them Kiba." I warned as I left to go and see the Hokage. Kiba scoffed and turned to look at the bra- err, I mean- children and sighed.

"This is _so_ not my day." The four ninjas-in-training looked at each other and wordlessly agreed to make dog-boy pay for the insults. He was in for _hell_.

When I got to Tsunade's office I knocked and entered. She was sitting at her desk, actually _doing_ her paperwork for once. I looked at her for a moment and cleared my throat. Tsunade looked up and motioned for me to take a seat, which I did. Nothing happened for a while, other than her doing her paperwork and me twirling a kunai around my fingers. The Hokage put down a paper and cleared her throat, making me look up at her.

"Sa-Kinikura. I have a schedule for you to tell you when and what you will be teaching. You start next week. Any question?" she had caught herself before she had said my true name but I glared at her anyway.

"Only one." I said. She looked right at me, signalling that I had her full attention. "Do you know anything about four kids without parents or a home? Their names are Karene, Ryiko, Tyiko and Terrane."

"I've heard of them."

"I wish to adopt them as my younger siblings and get a house for us to live in. Would that be alright Tsunade-sama?" I asked. My question was said as more of a demand and Tsunade knew that she couldn't refuse me. She sighed and rubbed her temples.

"That would be fine. You may reside in the old Haruno estate, just outside the village." Yes, I had found out, when I was nine, that the Haruno's were a village-less clan who's estate was near the hidden leaf village, Konoha. I lived there with my aunt and uncle until they passed away, then I lived alone. No one has been there since I was twelve, since I moved into an apartment when I came back from my four year training trip.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama." I said as I disappeared in my usual black cherry blossom petals.


	25. Midgets, Twerps, Pixies and Fairies

Chapter Twenty Four

They children had been thinking of more ways to get Kiba back for calling them brats and so far they had soaked him in lemonade, dunked him in honey, stuck feathers all over him, bombarded him with tomatoes, tripped him over seven times, stuck ice cream down his jacket and Terrane had given him a make over while he slept in the ice cream shop, that he still hasn't noticed. However, Kiba had graced them with six more names to go with 'Brat' in response. So far he had called them 'Munchkins' 'Umpalumas' 'Midgets' 'Twerps' and, much to the boys' hatred, 'Fairies' and 'Pixies'. This only gained the dog-boy more chance of being killed by the four. With the way they were glaring at him, if looks could kill…

"Okay fairies, Kini-chan said to take you to get some dango." He declared, heading to the dango shop. "And then Ice cream." He headed in and bought some dango before heading out, only to find the kids gone. "OH NO! KINI-CHAN'S GONNA KILL ME!" He yelled. The dog-nin looked both ways down the street and began to wander around all of Konoha, trying to find the Munchkins before Kinikura came to get them, or worse, before _they_ found _her_. "Terrane! Ryiko! Tyiko! Karene!" He shouted, hoping that they would come back.

"Hey Kiba!" Hollered a female voice from behind him, angrily. He slowly turned around to see the female assassin standing with her arms crossed over her chest, tapping her foot impatiently. She looked angry. Very angry. "Where are the kids Kiba?" She hissed though clenched teeth. "I swear if they're hurt, you're dead meat!" She threatened. Kiba gulped and looked about ready to wet himself. "You couldn't even tell a Henge no jutsu when you see one."

"Well… you see… I, um- wait, Henge?" He asked confused. The Huntress giggled and he heard stifled laughter from the ally. Kiba turned and looked down the narrow street and glared at the five figures rolling on the floor laughing. He turned back to 'Kinikura' and glared harder. "Terrane?" the person shook their head. "Karene?" Another shake. "Ryiko? Tyiko?" Again, no. "Then, who…?" The person pretending to be Kinikura burst out laughing and erupted in a poof of smoke. When the smoke cleared, there stood a girl with brown hair in two buns and warm brown eyes. Kiba stared at Ten-ten unbelievingly. She shook her head.

"Honestly Kiba, it was a good thing Kini-chan told us to keep an eye on you and the children or you would have killed them already!" She reprised. He sighed and awaited the obviously-going-to-happen lecture. "When someone leaves you in charge of kids, you treat them nicely and you _don't_ think of as many names for them as possible."

"What would Kini-chan say if she knew what you've been doing to her siblings?" Questioned a new voice. Kiba looked into the ally again and saw Temari standing with the four that caused this, now two people, lecture. "We _should_ tell her what you did, but since we're in a good mood, we'll let the kids decide what to do with you."

"K-Kiba, you should try to be nicer to the children. They didn't d-do anything to y-you." Stated a smaller, quieter voice, but still feminine none-the-less. Kiba rolled his head on his neck and looked to his right, the opposite direction to Temari and the ally, and saw the pale, but strong, Hyuuga heiress standing there, also lecturing him on the properties of proper child-care.

"Yeah! And, how can you be so cruel to the little cuties?!" Screeched yet another voice, but this one was from behind him. He saw the kids cringe at the sound of her wail and he knew instantly who it was. The queen of boring and pointless lectures, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, THE INO! He groaned and placed; a.k.a threw his head into his hands and waited for the girls to be finished with their pointless babbling. "Names like 'Brats' are not proper for someone to give the children that they are watching."

"I get it! I won't call them brats anymore!" He declared loudly.

"And?" Enquired the girls and children together.

"And I wont call them 'Munchkins', 'Umpalumas', 'Midgets', 'Twerps', 'Fairies' or 'Pixies'! Happy?"

"Why were you calling my little brothers and sister all those names in the first place Inuzuka?" Asked a cold voice from above him, on the roof of the Hokage's tower, since he had gone there in his search for the children. She jumped down and observed him from head-to-toe in slight amusement.

_Sakura's PoV_

I had just finished my discussion with Tsunade and was about to head to the park to meet my siblings when I spotted Kiba running along the street. _'He brought them here?'_ **'If Inuzuka brought them here then where are they?' _'I want to see my sister and brothers!' _**_'He lost them.' _**'How do you know that?'**_ 'Listen.'_

"Terrane! Ryiko! Tyiko! Karene!" He shouted, obviously hoping that they would come back.

"Hey Kiba!" Hollered a female voice from behind him, angrily. He slowly turned around to see a poor Henge of myself standing with her arms crossed over her chest, tapping her foot impatiently. It was obviously Ten-ten. The chakra waves were all wrong. "Where are the kids Kiba?" She hissed though clenched teeth, trying to act as intimidating as I am. I have to admit, she is pretty good. "I swear if they're hurt, you're dead meat!" She threatened. I almost laughed when Kiba gulped and looked about ready to wet himself. "You couldn't even tell a Henge no jutsu when you see one." She stated. Kiba would defiantly figure out who it _really_ was now.

"Well… you see… I, um- wait, Henge?" He asked confused. The Huntress impersonator giggled and I heard stifled laughter from the ally. I looked down into the narrow street and saw five figures rolling on the floor laughing. Amusement crossed my features, but I banished soon after. Temari.

He turned back to Ten-ten, or 'Kinikura', and glared harder than he had glared at the ninja and ninja-to-be in the ally. "Terrane?" Ten-ten shook their head. "Karene?" Another shake. "Ryiko? Tyiko?" Again, no. this was starting to get more annoying that funny and I decided that I would need to put a stop to it soon. "Then, who…?" Ten-ten did a very un-me-ish thing and burst out laughing before cancelling the jutsu and getting covered by a poof of smoke. When the smoke cleared, there stood a girl with brown hair in two buns and warm brown eyes. Kiba stared at Ten-ten unbelievingly. She shook her head yet again.

"Honestly Kiba, it was a good thing Kini-chan told us to keep an eye on you and the children or you would have killed them already!" She reprised him. I rolled my eyes and almost felt sorry for Kiba, since he was about to get a Ten-ten lecture, in which the other konoichis in hiding would most likely join. "When someone leaves you in charge of kids, you treat them nicely and you _don't_ think of as many names for them as possible." She told him.

"What would Kini-chan say if she knew what you've been doing to her siblings?" Questioned a new voice. Temari was just stepping out of the ally again with the four kids and I smirked as his lecture became doubled. "We _should_ tell her what you did, but since we're in a good mood, we'll let the kids decide what to do with you."

"K-Kiba, you should try to be nicer to the children. They didn't d-do anything to y-you." Stated a smaller, quieter voice, but still feminine none-the-less. Hinata was standing to Kiba's right, the opposite direction to my siblings and the ally, and had now, also, started lecturing him on his poor child-care.

"Yeah! And, how can you be so cruel to the little cuties?!" Screeched yet another voice, but this one was from behind him. I noticed that the kids cringe at the sound of my friend's wail and no one there needed to look because they all knew instantly who it was. The queen of lectures, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, THE INO! Everyone began to call her 'The Ino' since she was the number one lecturer in Konoha. '_She could probably win in a fight with Kisame by telling him off for killing and saying that it was wrong to abandon your village.'_ I heard Kiba groan as he threw his head into his hands, waiting for the girls to be finished with their babbling. "Names like 'Brats' are not proper for someone to give the children that they are watching."

"I get it! I won't call them brats anymore!" He declared loudly.

"And?" Enquired the girls and children together.

"And I wont call them 'Munchkins', 'Umpalumas', 'Midgets', 'Twerps', 'Fairies' or 'Pixies'! Happy?" _'He called them _all_ of those names?!'_

"Why were you calling my little brothers and sister all those names in the first place Inuzuka?" I asked a coldly from the roof of the Hokage's tower. I then jumped down and observed him from head-to-toe in slight amusement. He was covered in some yellow, sticky stuff and had feathers all over him. I also noticed that he had an ice cream stain seeping though the underneath of his shirt and had tomato juice and seeds over him, but mostly on his face and in his hair. "What happened to you?"

"Them." He said, gesturing to the four children that were standing, looking as innocent as angels with an inability to lie or do wrong. I shook my head and gave them the same look a mother would give her child before they miraculously and totally 'willingly' confessed to their crimes and/or wrong doings.

"We tipped almost frozen lemonade all over him so that he would get a cold!" Ryiko admitted. The eldest and youngest both scowled at him where as his twin looked ready to burst out with the amount of information he was holding in. I looked him right in the eye and he cracked.

"After-we-tipped-freezing-lemonade-on-him-we-dunked-him-in-honey-and-then-we-stuck-feathers-to-him-and-then-we-threw-hundreds-of-tomatoes-at-him-but-tis-weird-kid-with-chick-hair-chased-us-yelling-"MY-TOMATOES!"-And-when-we-got-to-the-ice-cream-shop-we-put-ice-cream-down-his-shirt-and-then-when-he-fell-asleep-Terrane-put-make-up-on-him!" Tyiko yelled out in one breath and, surprisingly, as once word.

I had a good idea about who the tomato obsessed freak with the chicken hair was and they _did_ have some good ideas, but no matter what logic I put behind it, I couldn't find anything _not_ funny about what the did to him. I laughed out loud and got some odd looks, but after a few seconds the konoichis and the kids laughed with me. Kiba stood for a few moments before he too laughed his head off.

"Kini-chan, why did you start to laugh?" Kiba asked stupidly.

"No matter how hard I try, the things that they did to you aren't logical, just smart and funny." I told him when I finished laughing.

"Okay. So, since I took care of them for you, how about I take you to diner, you know, so that you can pay me back with your lovely self as company." He asked as he was trying to be the Casanova he obviously isn't. I heard gagging noises from behind him and when I looked over his shoulder I saw that Terrane had sort of a jealous/angry look while the boys were pretending to puke. "Oh yeah?" Kiba said, turning to face the boys. "Let's see you do better then!" He challenged. Karene smirked and walked over to me. He had a look in his eye that asked me to help, so I did.

"Lovely maiden," He began, taking my hand. "You look radiant, would you do me the honour of allowing me to escort you to dine with me at the Ichiruka ramen bar tonight?" _'Now _that_ is how you speak like a Casanova!'_

"It would be my honour of being your date, good sir. I only fear that master dog-breath would become like green-eyed monster of jealous rage." I replied, making him smile and the others laugh, while Kiba just looked dumb-struck.

"If that were to be so then I would protect you to the end my fair maiden for my love cannot be rivalled by the hatred of lord flea-brain." He told my, still holding my hand and I smirked.

"Sorry dog-boy but, Karene won." I said to Kiba. "He's a regular romantic, this one."

"Fine, so the kid does it better than me. What about the gruesome twosome over there?" He asked, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the twins.

"Watch and learn flea-boy." Ryiko told Kiba as he walked over to Ino. She cleared her throat but the boy thought better of it and turned around to walk to Ten-ten instead. "Beautiful princess, your pure soul has drawn me near and I fear that I cannot stay away. Pray, take my invitation to the ramen bar and do not throw it back to break my heart." _'Wow. He will have _no_ trouble with the ladies when he grows up'_ Ten-ten giggled and took his outstretched hand as she prepared to answer in the same way he asked. Kiba was going down. Way down.

"Oh humble lord, it would be my pleasure to have yourself to escort me to dine on this night at the hour of my friend's departure for the very place you have requested we should go." She told him. He grinned and stood to the side of Ten-ten, smirking at Kiba. The Inuzuka boy huffed and turned to the last boy to try and ask out a girl at least twice his age.

"My now?" Kiba nodded at Tyiko and the boy cleared his throat, turning to Temari. "You must be a warrior for you have slain any part of me that didn't love your beauty and yourself as a whole. Or perhaps you are an angel, sent from above to give me heed of when I may take a lovely woman, such as yourself, to dinner at the ramen bar so that I do not feel alone when my brothers partake in their dinner with to women so lovely that a flower would pale in the presence of one, but to have all three of you here and now, well. I might die today and die with the happiness of knowing that I have seen pure beauty and nothing less. Will you let me take you by the hand and guide you to the Ichiruka tonight at the time of similarity to my brothers?" _'He is smooth.'_ **'I have the most romantic brothers that anyone could ever want!'**

"Why, noble lord, you flatter me and my friends with your words. If you continue I might need to draw upon my warrior's spirit, that you said I hold, to fight away my rosy blush. I would be joyously appraised to accept an offer such as yours. We shall depart at the time of my friends and your brother to meet at the place you have spoken with your charming words." Temari said to the eight-year-old.

"Well Kiba, unless you plan on asking Ino, then you have to be single for the night." I informed.

"Why Ino?" He complained.

"Because, Hinata is _married_ and she's going to meet us at the ramen bar with her husband. Right Hinata?" Temari declared.

"R-right."

"Well, she still hasn't proven to me that the kids have better flare that me when asking someone out!" He snapped, pointing at Terrane.

"She can't. The only boys she could ask are her brothers and that would be wrong. Not to mention they already have dates." Ten-ten told him, putting her arm around Ryiko's shoulders.

"I-I could pretend to ask K-Kiba." Terrane said shyly. _'SHE LIKES KIBA!!!'_ She walked over to Kiba and stood in front of him. He looked down at her while she looked up and gulped. "K-Kiba? D-Do you… I mean… W-Would you…" She sighed and her shoulder slumped. Her cheeks were burning and Kiba just continued to look at her.

"Kiba! Quit staring at her! You're _way_ taller and are making her loose her nerve!" Ino yelled at him. He sighed and looked straight forward, right over Terrane's head, and she started again. She took a deep breath, released it, took another and closed her eyes.

"Kiba, will you reply positively to my request of a meeting with yourself and I at the Ichiruka ramen bar tonight at the time of my brothers' departure?" She asked, still really shy about talking to Kiba. _'She defiantly likes him.'_ **'Cha! That was so good. She's shy but managed to ask out her crush! Shannaro!' _'No way can he resist! She's too sweet!'_**

"No way." He said coldly. She looked up at him with teary eyes and then looked down at the floor. I noticed tears hitting the ground and her shoulders were shaking slightly. **'THAT JERK!'** for once, Little Saku-chan I both agreed with my inner about the same thing. How could he turn her down like she was nothing? I glared at him while she continued her silent sobs. This didn't go unnoticed by her brothers who immediately let out an aura of worry and joined in with my glaring.

Ten-ten, Ino, Temari and Hinata were just as shocked as the rest of us about how Kiba could be so cold to a six-year-old girl with a crush. He smirked at me and I scowled back. Kiba seemed to silently question me about why I was being so cold and I almost walked over to him and hit him for being so nastily unaware of the innocent heart that he just broke like it was nothing more than a glass window and he had thrown a rock at it for fun.

"What did I do?" He questioned dumbly. His expression was one of pure confusion and the younger boys continued to glare. His idiocy had shielded him to the pain he had inflicted on the little girl. What really surprised him was that ten-ten, Ino and Temari had all stared to glare at him also. The most shocking thing, however, was that Hinata had swallowed her timid-ness and was giving him a small glare of her own. "Something bad then?" We all continued to glare and he turned his head down, towards the only person who wasn't glaring daggers at him.

Terrane was still crying and her shoulders were slumped, shaking occasionally, as her tears hit the ground like rain. He saw the watered dirt and saw the water in her eyes that was crawling slowly down her face.

"Oh." He said in quiet realisation of what he had done. However, instead of correcting his mistake and making her fell better, he just walked away, down the road. She watched after him and ran in the other direction, to the Sakura groves, to cry her aching heart into submission.


	26. Interrogate me, un?

Chapter Twenty Five

Karene, Tyiko, Ryiko and I had been home, in the old Haruno district, for two hours and there was still no sign of Terrane. The boys had met Morokie, Toro and Hinichi when we got into the house. I sighed and picked up the plate of food I had made for her and put it in the kitchen before walking back into the living room, where the boys were, worrying about their younger sister's welfare. I sighed again. _'Konoha is making me weak again.'_ **'What makes you say that?'**_ 'I'm taking in orphans and laughing freely.' **'She does have a point.'**_** 'We can't just leave them though.' **_'When we go back to the Akatsuki, they'll come too.' **'So, were defiantly going back to live with Itchy-kun again?' **'Hai.' _**'SHANNARO!'**

"Guys, I'm going to look for Terrane. When I come back, we need to talk, okay?" I asked. The boys nodded solemnly and I left the main house, with the animals trailing behind me, and began to stalk though the streets of my old clan's district. The buildings were old but it had a lovely view of the Sakura groves and the small child sitting under the biggest tree, crying. Terrane was going to be heart broken for at least a week after that.

I walked out of the district and made my way into the Sakura fields. When I got there, it was void of any person, other than my little sister and I. walking towards her small form I began to remember when I came here after Sasuke rejected my when I asked him out for the first time. After a while, I stopped coming. I got used to his coldness and began to see that, other than looks, he didn't have very much to crush on.

"Terrane? Are you okay?" I questioned the younger girl. She sniffled and wiped her tears away with her hand. "Did you know that I used to come here after getting turned down by the person _I_ had a crush on?" I informed her with a question. She lifted her head and looked up at me though puffy red eyes. I knelt down to her level and continued. "I felt so alone all of the time. No one came to find or comfort me, but I came to find you shisuta, because I care." She smiled weakly at me and I gave her a small smile in return.

"Did _you_ like Kiba too?" She asked me, her voice hoarse from tears.

"No. I liked a boy with black-blue hair that spiked in the back, onyx eyes and an ice cold personality." I told her.

"Why did you like him if he was 'ice cold'?" She queried confused at my use of words to describe the boy I had crushed on when I was younger.

"Everyone liked him, well the girls; no one cared about his personality, just his looks."

"And you?"

"I cared about looks to start with but, when I placed on his team, I grew to…"

"Love him for who he was instead of how he looks?" She suggested. I laughed lightly and shook my head.

"No. I grew to hate him, looks and all. He was shallow, self-centred, rude, cold and vain. He also had a one-tracked mind. The only thing he could ever think of was revenge against his brother. The weird thing is I joined his brother after he hit me with his words one more time than I could handle. Everyone thought that I was dead, even though I left a note saying that I just left and was still alive. They even spent a few months at the Akatsuki base with me and my team and didn't notice!"

"This boy must be pretty stupid." She decided. "Just like Kiba. Kiba is the stupidest idiot I have _ever_ met and I hate him!"

"No you don't. You're just hurt. He'll come around eventually and say sorry. Until then, however, how does pizza for dinner sound? I left you some."

"REALLY? Thanks shisuta!" she said, she just noticed the creature behind me and gasped. "Are those the animals that you have as the Huntress?" She asked me.

"Yes. The wolf is Morokie; the tiger is Toro and the hawk to Hinichi." I informed her. We spent a few minuets in the Sakura groves together with the animals and she grew to love them almost as much as I do. We decided that it was getting a little too late to be out still and we went back to the Haruno district.

When the four of them had eaten and gone to bed I sat in the living room, reading a book called 'Waiting for the past', it's about a girl who gets left in life while her friends die, but she strives to live on anyway. Just as I turned the page I began to feel a familiar chakra, but it soon faded into nothing, so I let it slip. _'Who was that?'_ I decided that I must be tired and went upstairs to my room. When I got there, I changed into a black tank top and some black cotton shorts and went to sleep, wrapped in the blood-red sheets, the trade mark colour of the Haruno clan.

One week later, I was finishing a class in Henge no jutsu at the academy, even though they could have asked _any_ of the regular teachers to do it, and several of them had improved it to a standard worthy of tricking Tobi. That's not very high but still higher than when they started off. Karene was in this class and he was currently the best. Many of the other kids were jealous of his skill, the fact he had a famous assassin as a sister and his range of…. DUN DUN DUN…. FANGIRLS!

Just as I was about to dismiss everyone and leave, with Karene, to find my other siblings a Chunin appeared and handed me a scroll from the Hokage herself. It was a summons to the prison situated north of the academy and it was urgent. After quickly scanning the note I put it in my pocket and turned to the class.

"Alright you ninja-wanna-be's, get out of here, class dismissed." A series of groans passed though the children, they loved my lessons, for I used a practical aid when teaching instead of just telling them what to do, and everyone left. "Karene, I want you to find Terrane, Ryiko and Tyiko and go home, I'll be there as soon as I have done what the Hokage has asked of me." He nodded and left to find the others and take them home. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the note, reading it again to clarify my understanding of the Hokage's message. It said:

_To the ninja called Tomito Kinikura, concerning matters that you would find most interesting._

_We have captured a prisoner late last week and you have been asked to interrogate them thoroughly. Please report to the Konoha prison as soon as your class is over._

_Tsunade. Godaime Hokage._

'_Matters that I would find interesting huh?'_ I raced across town to the designated place and thought back to the time last week when I had felt the familiar chakra. _'Oh no.'_

I arrived at the prison and passed the guards. When I got to the interrogation room, Ibiki was already there with Tsunade and a few ANBU. This prisoner seemed powerful, frightening and, worst of all, familiar. I nodded to Ibiki and he copied my greeting. Tsunade opened the door and ushered me inside to begin the questioning, but when I entered, all thoughts of torture flew out of my mind.

"Deidara!" I yelled, running to the blonde on the other side of the interrogation table. He raised his head and peered at me though his one cerulean-blue eye before breaking out in a grin. He was tied to the chair but still tried to get up. Inside my mind I was calculating ways to free my brother-like friend but on the outside I looked cool and collected.

"Kini-chan! Good to see you! Yeah!" He was using an Akatsuki coded term. We invented them for situations such as these. The one he used meant 'Do you have a plan of escape'.

"Yes, it's great to see you too." I replied. My term meant 'I haven't' but by using the word 'great' instead of the usual 'good' I had changed it to 'I'm thinking, just be patient for a while'. He nodded at our silent communication and I began the interrogation. "What were you doing around Konoha Deidara?"

"Looking for you, yeah." He replied shortly.

"Why?"

"We miss you, yeah." In other words 'you're needed back at the base a-s-a-p.' I nodded and left the room.

"THAT WAS IT?!" Tsunade yelled at me.

"We got the information. What more do you want?"

"I want you to go back in there and break his neck if you have to, we need _real_ answers!"

"I can still hear you, you know, yeah!" Deidara yelled from the other room. I stifled a laugh and Tsunade scowled at the door. "Glaring at an innocent door won't help _anyone_, yeah." He said. Tsunade was fuming and I took this opportunity to leave in a sweep of black petals before I was forced back in to question my friend further.

Back at the house the children had finished some instant ramen for dinner and were sitting in the living room watching TV. I walked in and dropped down on the sofa, squashing two twins in the process. The complained loudly until I got up and began to think of a plan to break Deidara out of prison, break my contract and get back to Akatsuki. Soft breathing alerted me to my siblings being asleep and I stared at them for a moment. _'I can't leave them now, they trust me.'_

'**Okay. Plan A) Break Deidara out and run yelling "See ya Suckers!".' **_'Um, no.' **'Plan B) Sneak into the prison and poof Deidara back to the base, then return to complete your contract with Konoha.' **'Nah.' _**'Well, you think of one then!' **_'Spend tomorrow like nothing is going on, tell the kids who I really am, break Deidara out at night and finally, take him and the kids to the Akatsuki.' **'Sounds good.' **_**'Shannaro!'** After agreeing with my inner selves on the plan I walked over to my sleeping katei (Family) and shook them gently awake.

"Kini-nee-san?" Terrane asked groggily. I nodded and they sat up. Once they had fully awakened themselves from their drowsiness I sighed and prepared to tell them the truth. "What's wrong Kini-nee-san?"

"Kinikura isn't my real name." I said. They regarded me with strange looks and I continued. "Tomito is not me last name either. My name is Haruno Sakura. I was the konoichi on the famous team seven of Konoha and have been 'dead' for around two years." I finished.

"_The_ Haruno Sakura?" Karene asked in awe. I nodded. "How do we know that this isn't just a trick?" I sighed again and looked at our genjutsu expert, Ryiko, silently telling him what to do. He inclined his head and placed his right index finger on my right shoulder.

"Kai!" He yelled to put an end to my Henge. I could have done it myself but then they could have thought that I had put _on_ a Henge rather than taken it off. When the smoke cleared I sat before four wide-eyed under-ten-year-olds. My hair was back to its old, soft pink but my eyes remained enveloped by the Zoneingan, so they were still purple and silver. My clothes remained the same as well, just as my body hadn't changed. When I first became Kinikura I didn't use a Henge, just hair dye and my bloodline, so my figure didn't change with the jutsu when I activated it.

"Look. A friend of mine from Akatsuki has been captured and I plan on getting him out. That means that I'm going back to the Akatsuki with him." Four saddened faces followed my statement, their owners thinking that I'm going to leave them behind. "Are you coming?" The looked at me, then each other and nodded. "From now on you are," I began, taking a red ribbon from the draw next to me. "Haruno Karene," I said, placing Karene's hand in the centre of the circle we had made with our bodies, and rested the ribbon over it. "Haruno Ryiko." The other boys hand was rested on top of his older brothers and the ribbon was looped around his hand too. "Haruno Tyiko," The same happened as before and the ribbon was adjusted. "And Haruno Terrane." Terrane placed her hands upon her brothers' and I tied the ribbon at the top. "You are the brothers and sister to the heiress of the Haruno clan, Haruno Sakura." I proclaimed as I rested my own hand on the knot of the ribbon. "You are now four of the last five Haruno's alive. Be strong and live up to the clan name. Hold on, this might hurt a bit." I pulled out a kunai and cut a slice in the palm of my hand and a small slice in the tops of theirs. They winced at the blades actions and I ran my blooded hand over the cuts, healing them in the process.

When I was finished I lifted my hand and untied the ribbon. They all look confused so I explained.

"That was an ancient Haruno binding ceremony. I couldn't take you out of Konoha as my siblings unless you were Harunos. By healing you with my blood you now have Haruno blood inside you. Now you are as Haruno as a pure-born clan member and truly my blood siblings. However, around Konoha and until I tell you otherwise, you will use the name Tomito, got it?" They nodded. "Good."

"Sakura-nee-san? Why did you choose the name 'Tomito Kinikura' in the first place?" Karene asked curiously. My other siblings leaned in to hear my reason as well so I decided to tell them.

"Well, my obaasan (Grandmother) was named Kinikura and she was the best healer that the mist country _ever_ saw. I would be proud to be named for such a great woman. As for 'Tomito', well, it connects me to Konoha I guess."

"How?" They asked together.

"Well, you know my hawk, Hinichi?" They nodded. "Her name was adapted from my friend Hinata. She was one of my closest friends. And Tomito is in remembrance of a boy I used to have a crush on. His name was Sasuke and he _loved_ Tomatoes, so my name became Tomito. It's silly really, but I like it." The laughed and we went to bed. Tomorrow we would free Deidara and leave Konoha for good.


	27. Time to go

Chapter Twenty Six

When the morning came I got out of bed to go and get dressed like my older siblings had done already this morning. When I was done I looked at myself in the mirror and nodded in approval of my appearance. Sakura-nee-chan said that we would be leaving today and we would get to meet one of the Akatsuki today, since we wouldn't arrive at the base for about a week. It would have taken less time to get there if she left us behind but she promised that she would never leave us and we were grateful for that.

Having Sakura around was nice, since I never had a sister before, only brothers. Boys were dumb, especially Kiba. I wonder if he will actually say sorry or if he will just ignore me forever. As long as I have my family, I don't care what Kiba does, were not going to be in Konoha for much longer anyway.

"Terrane! You have a visitor!" Tyiko yelled from the door. I huffed and stayed put. "It's a _BOY_!" My eyes widened and I ran to the door, expecting it to be Kiba, but it was only Hyuuga Hakaro, a boy from my class that followed me around all the time. He had light brown hair that was tied at the back in a stubby pony tail and the usual Hyuuga eyes. I glared at him, because I had told him to stop following me loads of times before and he couldn't take a hint, and he grinned back. He was a friend, but he _really_ needed to get a life other than following me. And a brain, he needed one of those too.

"Hey Terrane-chan, you look nice today." I rolled my eyes at his comment. I was wearing a white tank top and a black ninja skirt that had slits up both sides and went down to around mid-thigh. I had white under shorts on underneath it and black elbow guards. My hair was up in a high pony tail, as went down to my hips when it was loose and it got in my way, held with a white ribbon. My gloves were also white and fingerless and I had small compartments in the wrists for a single shuriken per glove. Sakura said that we should each have something that suited our strongest area in fighting, and mine was weapons. I had a few scroll, like Tenten-chan did and lots of places in my clothing to hide my various weapons. I had the most ninja weapons out of my brothers and me, but Sakura-nee-chan still had the most.

"Thanks Hakaro." I replied as kindly as I could without throwing up at the effort it took to be nice to one of my stalker/fan boys. All of my siblings and I had our own respective fan clubs, Sakura's being the biggest, Karene's comes next, then mine, then Ryiko's and finally Tyiko's. It was easy to tell who had the most fans, especially on valentines day, but Sakura assured us that the fan clubs would remain in-tack when we became missing-nin. "Is there something that you wanted?"

"I-I w-wanted to k-know if you w-would g-go to Ichiruka w-with me." He asked. _'A date?'_ I _really_ didn't want to go and looked at Tyiko for help, but he just smirked and walked off. _'Note to self, kill Tyiko later.'_ I was about to decline when someone rejected him for me. It was as if the angels had sent him from heaven and the devils from hell all at once.

"She can't go." Said the newcomer coolly.

"Why not?" Hakaro snapped angrily.

"She's going to Ichiruka with _me_ today." He replied calmly, looking down on my class mate with a smirk.

"But your _way_ older than her!" The younger boy yelled back.

"But she's my friend. I'm _allowed_ to take a pretty friend to get some ramen. What do you say Terrane-chan?" he asked kindly.

"I'd really like that. Let me just go and ask Sa-err… Kini-nee-chan. Wait here Kiba-kun!" I said, running off to ask my older sister for permission to go to Ichiruka with the older dog-nin. "Kini-nee-chan!" I yelled, using her fake name in case anyone else heard. "Kini-nee-chan! Can I go to Ichiruka with my friend?" I asked when I found her. She was in her room, packing the rest of her things into her belt with a shrinking jutsu that she was going to use on all of our things too, seeing as how she had bought us all new clothes and a belt, similar to her own except in different colours, when she took us shopping.

"Who is your friend? Is it that Hakaro boy that Tyiko just told me about?" She enquired with a smirk.

"NO!" I responded quickly. "I mean, I don't like Hakaro like that, he's a fan boy. It's Kiba-kun! He showed up and asked my just a minuet ago!" I informed her. "Can I go?"

"Sure." She said with a sigh. "Just be back before one so that we can pack your things, okay?" She whispered to me. I nodded and she smiled, shooing me off to the front door so that I could go to get some ramen with Kiba. Sakura had introduced us to her other friends a few days ago, but we haven't met the new Kazekage of the sand, someone she knew named Gaara, or his older siblings, Kankuro and Temari. She said that we might meet them some day, but when that day came we would most likely be enemies of the sand, since we might be Akatsuki.

"Kiba-kun, I'm allowed to go!" I yelled to him when I came in seeing distance of the door. The next thing I noticed, other than the fact that Kiba was still at the door, waiting like I had asked, was that the academy fan boy was gone. "Where's Hakaro?" I questioned, worried for the safety of one of the many boys who asked, on a daily basis, to go out with me, and not the only one from the Hyuuga clan. He may be an annoyingly stupid person with the attention-span of a flea, but he was a friend none-the-less.

"He left; he said that if you weren't going to Ichiruka with him then he had no need to stay anywhere near someone of a lesser Konoha clan like mine. Tch, what a brat, at least _I'm_ part of the _main_ branch of my clan and not a _side_ branch, like him. Lesser clan or _not_, that's got to count for something."

Kiba and I made our way to Ichiruka and were almost their when I was approached by a girl the same age as Tyiko. I recognised her as Okkuu, one of Tyiko's fan girls. Her name was an ironic reflection of herself, since Okkuu means annoying. She had blonde hair, the same colour as Naruto's, and brown eyes. Her hair was shoulder-length and always loose while she wore loud pink clothing. Her position in Tyiko's fan club was number on fan or president as she liked to brag. Her friends, Hade, meaning loud, and Buta, meaning pig, were right beside her, as always.

"Hey! Terrane-chan, wait a minuet!" She called me. She's only nice to me so that she can get closer to my brother, and I know it. "Do you know where Tyiko-kun is?"

"He's avoiding you." I replied bluntly. She forced a laugh and smiled falsely at me. _'This is one thing I won't miss when we leave.'_ I thought to myself. _'Wait! This could be a good way to get back at Tyiko for ditching me!'_ I grinned and looked back at Okkuu. "Actually, I _do_ know where he is. He's at home, in the old Haruno district. If he's not there then he'll be at training grounds one, practicing his genjutsu." I informed her. She smiled and ran off with her lackeys to find my blissfully unaware brother.

"Why did you tell them?" Kiba asked me in shock of my evil, fan-leading-to-my-older-brother-ly, ways. I grinned at him and took his hand, running with him to the ramen shop, which was now only a few meters away. We sat at the bar and ordered two chicken ramens. After a few minuets Naruto walked in with Sasuke and a boy with brown hair who I'd never seen before.

"Kiba, Terrane-chan! Good to see you!" Naruto yelled to us, even though he was only a few feet away from where we were sitting. "Mind if we join you?" He asked, taking a seat whether we minded or not. Sasuke sat down next to Kiba and Naruto sat next to me. The boy with brown hair sat on the other side of Naruto and I got a proper look at him. He wore full black clothing with a brown and yellow symbol on the front. His face was covered in purple face-paint, the kind warriors wear, and he looked pretty cool with his bandaged puppet strapped to his back. I had always wanted to learn to use puppets but Sakura-nee-chan told me that I would have to work hard at it, since the type of jutsu it required wasn't my type.

"Hi Naru-kun, nice to see you again. Who is your friend?" I asked, wanting to meet the puppeteer formally. Naruto smiled and got out of his seat, walked up behind the puppet user and said something in his ear. The boy, in response to this, spit out the ramen he was eating and looked at me. His eyes expressed shock while his face expressed joy. I was officially confused.

"So, you're Kini-chan's new little sister. Terrane, right?" He asked. I nodded and he continued. "Nice to meet you. My name is Kankuro; I'm the Kazekage's older brother from Suna. We're here visiting the Hokage and I met up with Naruto." He explained.

"Nice puppet." I commented. He grinned and thanked me before returning to his ramen. A few minuets went by and it was now 12:55 and I had to leave or I would be late home and would need to pack in a hurry to refrain from pushing my sisters schedual back an hour. I said my good-byes and left the shop, leaving Kiba to complain about me leaving him with an ice-cube, an idiot and a puppet-obsessed-make-up-wearing-lunatic. This earned him a few hits, but I left before it got too out of hand.

"Sakura-nee-san, I'm home!" I yelled.

"I'm in Karene's room, helping him pack!" She shouted back. I walked into his room and saw him wearing the clothes he would wear when we left tonight. It was a tan-green tank top and some black baggy shorts. Over his top he wore an unbuttoned blue-green shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His shoes were some black boots and his belt was mossy green. Sakura was currently handing him some of his shrunken shirts and he was putting them into his left back pocket on the belt. "Hey, go and put anything that you want to take onto your bed so that we can shrink it as soon as I'm done." She told me. I nodded and walked into my own room.

I pulled out a lot of clothing and some books about shuriken and kunai. I also placed all of my weapons on my bed before securing some of them into the many different hiding spots on my outfit. I had a kunai holster on my right leg and a shuriken hidden in each glove. My hair had five senbon needles near the ribbon that held it up and my silver spiked earrings could be used as mini-darts in emergencies. I also had a silver ring that I could use as a throwing disk if I needed to. Kunai and shuriken were strapped to my legs under my white shorts as well as a visible kunai on each arm, strapped to my elbow guards. The rest of my weaponry would be shrunken, put into a small-ish cloth bag and tied to my white belt.

Sakura came in and began to shrink my belonging in the same way as she had done Karene's and we spoke about what happened while I was getting ramen with Kiba. I told her that I had met Kankuro and she seemed happy that the sand-siblings were in Konoha. That would mean that, when we passed Suna, they wouldn't be there to stop us. She was done after about an hour and she told me to relax a bit, but no training so that we could conserve energy for travel.

I followed my big sister into the twins' room, where they were fully dressed for travel as well. They were both wearing the same clothes and it only made it harder to tell them apart, unless you knew about the eye thing. They wore a black tank top with a tan-green open vest over the top. Their shorts were the same as Karene's, baggy and came down just below their knees, but they wore green instead of black. Their belts were silver and had a chain going down to one side, right side on Tyiko and the left on Ryiko, and both had set out their clothing on their own, respective beds.

It wasn't until five, roughly two hours since Sakura had finished helping the twins pack, that our sister had agreed to tell us more about the Akatsuki and what we would be doing tonight. She hadn't told us any of the details so far, just the minor facts. Like how we would be Akatsuki-in-training until we were at least twelve, since the leader had rules about ages for joining. Also we had been told that we would be put in separate rooms on the same corridor as her, possibly. The last thing she had told us, up until now, was that there would be four other members, all men, living in the base with us and one of those four men was the person we would be rescuing.

"Okay, the man we are going to rescue is named Deidara. When you see him, you might think that he looks like a girl but he _is_ a guy. The other members are Sasori, Deidara's partner, nice when he wants to be and the one who will teach you to use puppets if you want, since I'll be too busy. Next up is Kisame, he looks like a shark with feet instead of a tail and can be really mean. He's usually funny and cool to be around though; he'll teach you water based jutsu, for the same reason as above and the fact that he is a way better teacher in those jutsus than me. Lastly, Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's brother. He's cold and tends to glare at intimate objects when he looses a fight with me. It's funny to watch. That's about it thought. We leave at seven, so you have one and a half hours to get ready to go."

We remained inside for the time we had until we had to go. It was like waiting for death, or a new life. When we got to the Akatsuki, we would be allowed to use the name Haruno, since the members already knew who she was. Sakura had already sent Hinichi ahead with a message to Itachi, telling him that she was coming back with Deidara and four new guests. She had also mentioned, in the note, that he should sent Hinichi ahead to the leader with the same note.

"Okay guys." Sakura said when we were all gathered in the front hall, by the front door. "It's time to leave. For good."


	28. Break out

Chapter Twenty Seven

I had given each of the four children a microphone to use for communication, since I wasn't going to take them into the prison. I didn't want them seeing how I completed my job if the guards came, so they offered to stand guard outside, in case of other Konoha ninja entering the building while I was unaware. Terrane was the only person I was worrying about when it came to the Akatsuki. Her choice in clothes alone proved that she wasn't the type of person to kill without emotion, the only reason I was taking her was because I had promised. She was my little shisuta and I would never leave her behind. Also, I was like her from the ages of five to eleven. She might change, as I did, or I could teach her medical jutsus and she could become another medic for our base, besides me.

We had reached the ramen stand and I was hoping that Naruto wouldn't spot us, because it was pointless to hope that he wasn't there. My prayers were answered when he continued to slurp down his ramen as we passed, not taking any notice of the assassin and her siblings. We reached the prison but didn't start the break out until midnight. The guards switched shift at this time so it would be easier to get in and out undetected.

I left my small katei by the southern wall of the building and Poofed inside. I saw no guards, as was the plan, and began to make my way to Deidara's cell, the location of which, I just realised, I had no idea of. My cloak trailed behind me, as I had changed back into my usual Akatsuki uniform, as I walked up to a random cell. Behind the bars were the famous 'stupid brothers' and, just as I had planned, they would tell me the location of Deidara's cell for a slice of ham to fight over.

"Hey, Dumb 'n' Dumber! I have to ask you something." I called out to them. They regarded me with a quick glance before turning back to… what _do_ they do when they're not eating? "Hey! I want to know where someone's cell is." They continued to ignore me. "I can give you some food." I told them as a last resort. As soon as I had said it the brothers were on their feet at the bars of their cell. I pulled out two small pieces of ham from my belt and un-shrunk them, adding a bit of size during the jutsu to make the brothers more willing to talk. "Where can I find the Akatsuki member named Deidara?" I asked them.

"One floor below us, three cells down." They replied at the same time. I nodded and threw the meat inside their cell. I heard some sound from behind me that resembled the gagging I had herd when Kiba asked me out a few days ago, but this time it was four people doing it rather then three. I turned around and saw my siblings staring at the brothers as they vacuumed up their food.

"I told you to stay outside." I declared though gritted teeth. "And don't stare at them or they'll eat you too." I added as an after-thought. My younger katei looked guilty before Ryiko spoke up.

"We got bored and so we followed you in." He stated calmly. I looked at him in question of _how_ they got in and he pointed behind him. There was a man standing there with silver hair and one visible eye. I grinned sheepishly at the Jounin and he sighed back. _'We're in trouble now…'_ **'Cha! He's going to turn us in for sure! Shannaro!'**

"Don't worry, I'm not going to turn you in…. Sakura." He informed me. _'He's not? Well, that's good and- wait, SAKURA?! How- when- why-?'_ "I found out your identity about a week ago when I felt your chakra outside the Hokage's window. Sakura when- why didn't you tell me- us that you were okay?" He asked. I looked at the ground in shame and, forgetting the presence of my siblings and the prisoners, I ran to the ninja and hugged him.

"I missed you Kakashi." I said into his Jounin vest. His eye creased in a smile as he hugged back. We stayed like that for a while, just embracing one-an-other out of grief of our memories. "How have you been?" I asked once we had separated. He smiled again before his answer rolled from the cloth over his mouth.

"Not bad, not bad at all. I was offered another genin team, team twelve, but the name didn't work for me, so I turned them down. Team seven always did have a certain ring to it." He stated freely with a smile. I smirked back and stepped to my siblings.

"Kakashi, I need to get my friend out of here. After that, I'm going back to the Akatsuki with him, Karene, Ryiko, Tyiko and Terrane. Please, please don't try to stop me." I asked him with a sense of pleading in my voice.

"I won't try to stop you Sakura. I cannot, however, be held responsible for what happens when you leave." He told me. I assumed that he was talking about me never coming back and remaining an enemy to Konoha forever. I nodded in acceptance and he waved and Poofed away.

"Sakura-nee-chan, who was that anyway?" Tyiko asked me, tugging slightly on my trouser leg. I smiled down at him and saw the same question lingering on the faces of all four of my little charges. I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"You let him bring you in here to find me but you didn't even know who he was?" I asked. They shook their heads and I sighed again. "His name is Hatake Kakashi and he's one of my old senseis. He was team leader of my three-man squad back when I was a genin." I informed the little children with a sad smile. Remembering the past times I had in Konoha wasn't the best thing to do to convince you to leave. With a sigh I lead my siblings along the pathway to the stairs that led to the lower level, where Deidara was being kept.

"Deidara? You in there?" I whispered into the cell that the brothers had directed me to.

"Hey, you're that girl who came in here to question the Akatsuki guy no too long ago aren't you?" Questioned a man behind the bars of the cell with white hair and green eyes. This obviously wasn't my friend and I needed to find him before the next guard came over for his patrol. I was about to walk on when the man's appearance struck a chord within me and I was suddenly very angry.

"Yes I am, and you're the man who tricked a kid who hadn't even graduated the academy into stealing a scroll full of forbidden jutsu for you. Mizuki." I hissed venomously though clenched teeth. If this man had gotten his way, Naruto and Iruka would be dead along with half of the other villagers and he would be running free with some dangerous jutsus at his disposal. He smirked at my response.

"That would be me. Since you know my name, it would be rude of you to keep you're a secret." He stated. I rolled my eyes and glared at him.

"I have many names. Three more common than the others though." I told him.

"Tell me those three. Who knows, I might recognise one of them."

"I think you'll recognise them all." I said. "The most common one I go by is 'Huntress'." The smirk on his face disappeared. "My next name would be the Akatsuki princess, Tomito Kinikura." He gasped and stepped back a little. "My last one is one that you would know well. I am also the long 'dead' Haruno Sakura." He stared at me and sighed.

"I guess that it's true what they say." He began. "Every class in the Konoha academy had one student who will either turn out as a terrible ninja or an enemy to Konoha. I must admit, I thought that it would be Uchiha Sasuke, or Uzamaki Naruto. Never you Sakura, you were a good student, always behaved, you always did well in class. You came in second place for your smarts and fourth in ninja ability out of all the graduates. What changed?" He questioned seriously. I smirked.

"Not much. Just my entire out-look on life and, thanks to Fujin and Raijin, I'm now going to break one of my Akatsuki friends out of here and go back to the base with him and my newly adopted siblings." I pronounced. Mizuki looked at the four children, noticing them for the first time, and was about to ask something but I left down the pathway, too soon for him to turn thoughts into word, with the other Harunos following shortly after.

"Deidara?" I called into the next cell along. I received no answer and was about to move on until someone shifted inside the cell. After a few seconds my golden-haired friend was at the front of his cell, leaning on the bars looking bored. He yawned and took in my appearance before he suddenly realised who I was and why I was here.

"Sakura-chan, what took you so long, yeah?" He asked with his usual 'yeah' following his words.

"Getting the stupid brothers to tell you something isn't easy when you try to avoid the subject of food. I eventually just gave them a ham each and they spilled the beans. One problem, the led me to Mizuki's cell instead of yours, he started a conversation and… oh, I'll tell you later! We have to go before the guards come!" I said, pulling the bars apart using my strength. He stepped though the newly made hole, after putting on his cloak, and we began to walk toward the exit.

"Who're the kids Saku-chan?" He asked me a few we go outside and began towards the gates.

"They're my siblings. Deidara, meet Haruno Karene, the oldest with brown hair. Haruno Tyiko, the twin with grey eyes, and Haruno Ryiko, the twin with blue eyes. The little girl is my shisuta, Haruno Terrane." I introduced. "Kids, this is Deidara." They all nodded to each other to show that they understood whose who, which was easier for the kids since they only had to remember one name so far.

"Since when did you adopt little kids as your younger brothers and sisters, yeah?" Deidara questioned, he was obviously confused at my change in personality and I almost felt sorry for him. "I mean, you're usually a complete bitch to _everyone_ and now you suddenly a nice big sister, yeah?" Any pity I felt for him is now replaced with the need to throw something heavy at his head. Deidara, sensing my killer intent, moved closer to Tyiko, who was the furthest from me, and we carried on roof hopping. I had taught the children everything they would need to know for our journey to the base, so tree and roof hopping was easy.

"Sakura-nee-chan, when we get to the base, will we each get our own room, or will I have to share with Ryiko again?" Tyiko asked across the gap between us. I thought about it for a moment and was about to answer but Deidara interrupted.

"Oh yeah, the spare rooms were, um, miraculously re-decorated with the newest style. It's called 'I-blew-it-up-while-training-and-I'm-sorry-so-please-don't-kill-me' do you think you'll like it? Yeah?" He asked sheepishly. I growled before asking him a question.

"So, what rooms are left?" I snapped.

"Yours, mine, Sasori's, Itachi's and Kisame's." He told me. I contemplated this for a moment before coming to a decision.

"Ryiko, you'll share with Kisame." Ryiko nodded slowly, wondering if the shark-man would try to eat him in his sleep. "Tyiko, since this is all Deidara's fault anyway, you'll share with him." Tyiko looked exited at the idea of sharing with the bomber, since he had always asked about Deidara the most during the stories I told them in the time between me finding them and now. "Karene, you can share with Sasori. I don't think Itachi would like to share his room." The boy accepted his fate and mentally prepared himself for the puppets he would encounter in the older man's room. "Terrane, you can either share with me or Itachi. Your choice." I offered.

"You." She replied quickly. Terrane had never liked Itachi from the stories and frequently expressed her opinion about the raven-haired Uchiha clan murderer. He was a bit too… himself really. He was cold, scary and insane enough to glare at a light bulb when I called him a baby. The weird thing is… the light bulb blew up soon after he began to glare… and Itachi did a victory dance on the table.

The memory made me laugh inwardly, but all thoughts of laughter were banished from my mind when we approached the gates.


	29. Identities and Lightbulbs

**A/N: Before I start this chapter, I would like to thank the following people for their reviews: **

** Rakero-chan **

**Tac03e11hp **

**YinYangWhiteTiger **

**KazeRose **

**StrawLate **

**sakuraharuno-cherryblossom **

**sn1ck3rD00dl3 **

**pinky101 **

**ElektratheAssassin0891 **

**firegirl08 **

**berry smoothie **

**Gothic Saku-chan **

**Narutokage **

**Firerose1300 **

**BloodRenevant **

**Sora Akari **

**Ice-Black Dragon **

**Fire Rogue Shinobi **

**seguha **

**fantagrl64 **

**SadowKitty **

**EternalDeni **

**dragongirl92 **

**A.b. **

**tru-viet **

**himeyuzuki **

**cherryblossomsky **

**lil'spaz **

**Katherine Lins **

**cocoapuffaddict **

**Sanctii **

**999Shikaku999 **

**Silent Kunoichi aka. Fiona **

**EternalDeni **

**oO Yasu Yukiko Oo**

**Grapefruit.ninja**

**Enjoy The Story!**

**Warning Weirdness Follows.**  


Chapter Twenty Eight

When I arrived at the gates I was met with the faces of all my friends. Teams Gai, Kurenai, Asuma and Kakashi were there with Shinzune, Tsunade and, for some odd reason, the Sai boy. I had found that the name written in my journal wasn't 'Sai' and even if it was, he wasn't the one it spoke of. We weren't even that close. Naruto and Sasuke had betrayal written all over their faces while the others had a mix of sorrow, worry and question. _'Kakashi told them.'_

"S-Sakura-chan? Is that really you?" Ino asked shakily. I nodded slowly. Deidara was getting nervous of being around so many of the enemies ninja during a break-out attempt. "W-Why did you g-go? Why d-didn't you s-stay with u-us?" She was beginning to cry and it was crushing the wall of in-difference that I had built up over the years of killing.

"Konoha is weak. I am strong. We don't match any more. I'm sorry Ino." I apologised falsely. I wasn't sorry at all.

"Sakura-san, why didn't you just tell us who you were when we came to the base?" Neji enquired.

"So Kinikura is Kini-chan but _I'm_ still Sakura-_san_?" I joked lightly. The stern look on his face told me that now was the time to be serious and I pulled myself together. "I didn't tell you because…" I trailed off thinking, and then finished my answer with a smirk. "You never asked." I stated simply.

"Sakura-chan, why did you betray us?" Naruto asked quietly. I had no answer. I _wanted_ to run to him and hug him while apologising for my stupid mistake of running away. It's a well know fact that I _never_ do what I _want_. I always do what I _need_. I gave Naruto a truly sorry look and gazed at my siblings.

"Hold on to me or Deidara." I whispered to them. Deidara seemed to know what I was talking about and held his arms out for tow of them to hold. The twins went to Deidara, since he was the closest, and I held the other two. Some of the shinobi gave me a questioned look but most looked upset that I would leave them without an explanation again.

"Sakura, please-" Tsunade's words were ended by a cloud of cherry blossom petals and smoke filling the air. Kakashi smiled as the pink flowers floated to the ground and disappeared. Sasuke looked at his sensei in question before realising something. _Pink._

Deidara and I had Poofed the kids into the forest a few meters from our base. If we didn't poof right here then Tsunade could send someone to follow us and discover the location of our base that Sasori had _accidentally_ removed from the minds of the spies. The door was shut and locked but that was no problem for me and Deidara. We had the ability to use a small cut of metal to magically open the door and- **'We had keys.'** _'Way to go and ruin the mood.'_ I took out my key and opened the door, allowing my siblings and Deidara to enter first.

"I'M HOME, YEAH!" Deidara yelled. He got a few uninterested grunts in reply. "I feel so loved, yeah." He mumbled. "I BROUGHT SAKURA BACK WITH ME! YEAH!" He yelled again. This time the base members all came running to greet us and I smiled softly at their reactions. Itachi was the first to notice the kids but kept quiet and politely waited for me to explain the reason I brought minors to the base.

"Who are the midgets?" He asked._ 'Or not.'_ **'You _really_ need to stop imagining what you want to happen-'_ '-And think about what's _actually_ happening'_**

"They are my siblings. The eldest is Karene. The twins are Tyiko, the grey eyed one, and Ryiko, the blue eyes one. The little girl is Terrane, she's the youngest." I explained to the Sharingan user. Kisame grinned at the prospect of scaring the little girl just as he had scared me before I got to know him better. He walked over to her and looked down at the small child by his feet. She just barley reached past his knee and was shaking with fear at his size and appearance.

"Boo." He said. Terrane squeaked and ran to hide behind the closest person, other than Kisame, who just happened to be Itachi. He looked down on her as well and she backed away. I motioned for her to come over to me and she did so, mostly to get away from the scariest members at the base. I glared at Kisame and Itachi and they responded by staring at the twins, who were chasing Deidara around with a pair of scissors, trying to give him a hair-cut.

"Itachi, I expect that kind of behaviour from Kisame but you should know better than to scare Terrane like that." I told him. He rolled his crimson eyes at my statement and my purple and silver ones burned back.

"I didn't try to scare her. All I did was look down at her." He said.

"You're _way_ taller. It scared me to have tall people look down at me when I was her age."

"You weren't meant to be suitable for the Akatsuki when you where her age."

"Oh, go glare at a lamp!" I yelled back at him.

"MAYBE I WILL!" He hollered back and left to do just that.

I rolled my eyes when, no even five minuets later, a smashing sound came from the room Itachi had stalked into and he came back to look for a replacement light bulb. After he had fixed the light I went into the room and saw him yelling at the new bulb.

"YOUR MOTHER WAS SO UGLY SHE BROKE A MIRROR!" He yelled to the inanimate object.

…

"AT LEAST I'M NOT ROUND!"

…

"WHAT? GOT NOTHING TO SAY?"

…

"HA! I KNEW IT! YOU'RE A LIGHT BULB!"

"I WIN! I WIN! YOU'RE A LIGHT BULB, I'M A HUMAN!" He sang loudly.

"Itachi, what are you doing?" I asked. I was a little scared by his sad attempt at singing when we learned, long ago, that he is completely tone deaf.

"Sakura-chan! Your twin brothers are trying to ruin my perfect hair!"

"No we're not you big, girly baby!"

"All we're doing is… YES WE ARE GOING TO CUT YOUR HAIR! NOW GET BACK HERE!"

"BOO!"

"Aaaaaagggggggghhhhhhh! Sakura-chan! Your little sister scared me!"

"Serves you right fish lips!"

"Who are you calling fish lips, Puppet boy?!"

"Who are you calling Puppet boy, Man-who-glares-and-sings-at-light-bulbs!"

"You are terrible at name calling."

"At least I'm not a man who washes his hair with 'Scent of Lavender' shampoo and conditioner!"

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

"NEVER!"

"PUPPET BOY!"

"I USED YOUR TOOTHBRUSH TO CLEAN THE TOILET YESTERDAY!"

"OH NO YOU DIDN'T!"

"OH YES I DID!"

"NU UH!"

"YEA HU!"

"OH DON'T YOU 'YEA HU' MY 'NU UH'!"

This is going to be weirder than usual.

**A/N: The order of yelling goes:**

**-Deidara**

**-Ryiko**

**-Tyiko**

**-Terrane**

**-Kisame**

**-Sasori**

**-Itachi**

**-Sasori**

**-Itachi**

**-Sasori**

**-Itachi**

**-Sasori**

**-Itachi**

**-Sasori**

**-Itachi**

**-Sasori**

**-Itachi**

**-Sasori**

**-Itachi**

** Ja!**

**Shadow Quil.  
**


	30. Rooming arangements

Chapter Twenty Nine

"Sakura-nee-chan, can I go to town with fish-chan?" Ryiko asked innocently. I sighed and waved him off in the direction of the door. The boy hugged me and ran off to tell Kisame that he was allowed to go. Over the past few weeks the children have grown closer to one member in particular and have been training in their jutsus with them.

Ryiko has found a love for water type jutsus over the other ones he was offered and trains in them the most. Due to his training, he spends a lot of time with the shark-man and they have become friends. It also helps that they share a room, since Deidara blew the other one's up. Ryiko still spends time with his siblings and me, but he and the human-fish are now practically inseparable. Kisame acts like an older brother to him and he, being one of the middle twins, likes to have another man he can look up to.

He twin brother Tyiko spends most of his time with Deidara, learning clay-based jutsus. They have also grown quite close, but Tyiko still hangs out with Terrane a lot, just like he used to. The grey-eyed twin has become Deidara's apprentice and Deidara has become his brotherly-figure. It was nice to see them hanging out, but they are both pranksters, and that equals trouble for the rest of us.

Karene and Sasori have started to build a puppet together. It's going to be a long-lasting project that they do during training. The younger boy took immediate interest in puppet jutsus and can already lift light-weight objects with chakra strings. Sasori made him his own puppet to use when he got the hang of the chakra strings as an extra push to work harder. It works and Karene improves quickly.

As for Terrane, she has stayed with me and the younger boys, not wanting to go near the other members. Her fear of Itachi wasn't a big problem but it made her stay as far away as possible. She even requested to get moved to the base in mist, just to avoid training with him. She was fine around Deidara and Sasori wasn't a problem. Kisame made her feel a bit uncomfortable at first, but she doesn't mind being with the fish for a few minuets without me or her brothers around. It's only Itachi that she tries to stay away from. It's odd, but it seemed to bother him.

I walked out to the training grounds and re-read the letter that leader had sent me. It was a new mission, fitting my qualifications perfectly. It was a simple job. I liked to call these jobs 'Silent Kills' since the person wouldn't be missed until the next day, so all would be silent during my time there. It would cause a problem though. Deidara had told me that my room had survived the bomb. He failed to mention that it survived in two halves, one of which was half was to lightening. Terrane and I were sharing with Itachi, but if I left then she would have to be alone with the one person she tried to avoid.

The others had offered to room with her _and_ the boy they had taken in already, but the rooms were really only able to take two people maximum. The only reason Itachi shared with both of us was because he and I had the largest rooms, able to fit six people without going over the maximum amount. I had already told Itachi and he said that it was fine. Terrane wouldn't be too happy about the idea though.

'_Now I wish Naruto were still a member, or Kiba, she liked both of them and would love to share with them!'_ **'Cha! Naruto was such a cool member! He made Kisame wear a _dress_! Shannaro!' _'He he, and the dress said "Think Pink!" on the front!'_**_ 'That wasn't funny guys.'** 'You're right Sakura-chan' **_**'Yeah, you're right.'** _'It wasn't funny because… IT WAS HILARIOUS!'_

"Terrane-chan? I need to talk to you." I called out to the girl. She picked her kunai out of the bulls-eye that she was using for target practice and walked over to me, ready to listen to what I was going to say. She remained the best with weapons, just as Karene was with speed and the twins with chakra control.

"What is it Sakura-nee-chan?" She asked curiously when we were sat on the grass of the training area. I took a deep breath and thought about how I should tell her about the future arrangements of Akatsuki rooming.

'_Welcome to another episode of "Haruno Sakura; A Life". Today on the show, we will be breaking the news of sleeping arrangements and telling a girl that she will be sleeping in the same room as some one she hates and avoids!'_** 'Hahahahahahaha!'** **_'Amusing…'_**

"Terrane-chan, what do you think about Itachi?" I asked carefully.

"I-I… I don't… know." She replied truthfully. "Sometimes I hate him. Then I'm scared of him. Then, to finish it all of, I respect him!" She finished in a yell. My eyes softened as I prepared to break the news to her.

"I'm going on a month-long mission." I said to her. She looked at me as a sign to continue. "The rooming arrangements won't change. You're still going to room with Itachi." I informed the six-almost-seven-year-old. She sighed and stood up. I watched as she squeezed the silver and blue locket, that she always wore, in her left hand.

It was a silver heart with a blue, diamond-shaped sapphire in the centre and engraved vines surrounding it. The silver chain it hung from looked very delicate, but was actually strong enough to withstand a kunai slicing over it, as was proven by Kisame when she called him 'Princess Blow-Fish'. I had never seen the inside, but it seemed to reassure her of any given situation by knowing that she still has it in her possession. I guessed that it was a picture of her parents or some form of close family.

"O-Okay Sakura-nee-chan. It's only for a month, ne?"

"No. Deidara said that he and Sasori would be done building my room back within the next two weeks. You can go in it then. As soon as they're done with the other rooms on that corridor, you can each have your own room. I promise."

"Two weeks. No big deal. I'll do it then. Just so you can go on your mission ookii-shisuta (big sister). Good luck." She said as she beamed a true smile at me.

"Thanks bebi-shisuta (Baby sister). I'm leaving in two hours. I have to go and say good bye to the others now. Ja!" I waved and walked into the base. "Dei-chan, Saso-kun, I'm leaving on a mission!" I yelled. They ran in and, just as I had suspected, my brother and Kisame soon followed with Itachi walking from his room.

"Good luck Saku-chan, I'll have some ice cream waiting for you when you get back!" Deidara yelled as he hugged me. Kisame ruffled my hair as he usually did when I was leaving for more than one week and Sasori hugged me, whispering a good bye in my ear.

"Come back safe Saku-nee-chan!" My younger brothers yelled at the same time as they tackled me in one big hug. It was the first time I had left on a mission since we got here and Deidara hadn't failed to mention to them how dangerous my missions always were.

"Good bye Sakura-chan." Itachi said with a curt bow of his head. I copied him with a smirk and hugged him when I raised my head. He seemed shocked by my sudden choice of good byes but returned the hug none-the-less.

I left with a bag for the head of my victim, among other things, shrunken and tucked into my belt as well as Morokie, since the travelling distance would be too much for Toro and Hinichi doesn't have the same skills as my two land animal-nin. The hawk would either be of no use or just slow down my arrival and departure time, thus extending the mission past a month.

After throwing one last glance towards Terrane I saw her with tears in her eyes and her mouth said something that resembled 'Itoko' (Cousin) But I didn't understand why. I hopped into the foliage of the forest that over-hung the Akatsuki base like the shadow of guilt that plagued the minds of those who lived there and disappeared into the darkness offered by the clouds and trees.

The hunt has begun.


	31. What the girls think

Chapter Thirty

After the departure of Tomito Kinikura, aka Haruno Sakura, life in Konoha has changed. Naruto trains harder and for longer, so that he can go to the Akatsuki and get his team mate and friend to come back to Konoha. He vowed that, even if he dies trying, he would bring her back. Sasuke, in contrast, hasn't trained very much outside the training sessions with team 7. He too wants Sakura to come home, but is willing to accept that she left.

The rest of the people who were close to Kinikura and/or Sakura have thought of many ways to get her back. They are willing to go from simple contact to a full on war. Tsunade said that the war would have happened, even if Sakura didn't go to the Akatsuki. A war between the shinobi was imminent. Konoha and Suna would ally against the Akatsuki and sound. The two latter groups have no allies but many strong shinobi fighting for them.

A question of who Sakura would fight for was running though the village. Whether she would kill the village's shinobi for the Akatsuki or kill the red-moon criminals for the hidden villages was unknown. The Hokage wanted, more than anything, to be sure of Sakura's standing in the war. She seemed to still have bonds with Konoha and Suna, no matter how much she denied it.

Her siblings and she have only been gone for a week and already people feel like they have been gone forever. The spies, all ten of them, feel guilty for not recognising her at the base when they first saw her and the konoichis in S.T.I.T.H, at least Ino and Hinata, cried about loosing her again, after they just got her back. Shinzune has been depressed, not talking to anyone, about the lack of trust she had earned from the petal-haired ninja, making her out-of-the-loop about information regarding the Haruno girl known as Sakura.

The Godaime called a meeting of team seven and stated that not even Kakashi could be late. He was about to say that he would be late, but he wouldn't be able to help it, when Tsunade mentioned that it was about Sakura. No one was late after these words passed her mouth and entered our ears.

"Thank you for coming cell seven. Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, I have good news." She stated, half joyfully, half morbidly.

"What is it Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi asked lazily. He had the outward appearance of ignoring the strong woman behind the desk but, in truth, he had never been more anxious and alert in his life.

"Sakura and her siblings have made it to the Akatsuki." She told them. The faces of the young blonde and the older sensei dropped while the Uchiha boy glared into the distance, not directing it at the Hokage for respect of her statues above him.

"How is that good news Tsunade-baa-sama?" Naruto asked quietly, on the verge of yelling curses at the women for mis-leading the ex-team mates of a currently dangerous criminal.

"It means that she will be deciding her place in the up-coming battle soon, and because of her recent residence in Konoha, we have a might change of her siding with us for the fighting!" The elderly, but young-looking, woman yelled in glee. The men still looked down-cast. Her use of the word 'might' meant that she could just as easily side with Akatsuki and try to kill them.

Realising that 'might' was better than nothing, the males smiled and left the office semi-happy. Naruto began to head in the direction of the Ichiruka ramen bar while the other members of his team, which were in Konoha and not with the Akatsuki, followed him to the eatery. When they arrived they took a seat each and order their favourite flavours of ramen respectively.

Naruto inhaled his fifth bowl of ramen as Kakashi finished his first and began to read his 'suitable' literature. Sasuke rolled his eyes at this and scoffed.

The usual routine from a few years ago would be Sakura hitting the Kyuubi boy and re-educating him with lessons of some table manners. His ramen bowl was half-full still, but the memory of when Kakashi had told them how 'good' and 'proper' his book was played in his mind and made him stop.

_**Flash Back**_

_Kakashi was reading his book in a tree while the genin of team seven trained with their kunai and shuriken targets. Sasuke was hitting close to the bulls-eye but couldn't quite get his shuriken in the centre. Naruto, on the other hand, was missing completely. Sakura had hit close, but not as close as Sasuke, three times and missed the other five of her shots._

_She looked over at Kakashi and snorted. Naruto's attention was caught by her un-lady-like noise and looking in the direction of her sight. Sasuke noticed the lack of throwing from his team mates and looked at Kakashi as well. Sakura thought about her words for a while and chose a way to ask her question without Kakashi thinking of a perverted answer, like always when we asked about his 'precious' book._

"_Kakashi-sensei, what's your deal with that badly written book anyway? You pay more attention to _it_ than our training." She pronounced. Kakashi looked as if the konoichi had delivered him a personal insult as he dropped down from the tree and looked at the three ninja before him._

"_This book is a proper reading tool for kids who want to learn about the stuff written inside it. It's not 'badly written', it's good for you." Kakashi claimed. The genin shot him a 'yeah-right' glance and he continued. "No, no, I mean that… It's good for your soul." The Jounin concluded._

"_Puh-lease. Kakashi-sensei, you read so much of that stuff that you probably don't even have a soul." Sakura challenged. "I bet that you don't know the first thing about we've improved recently."_

"_I do so." He retorted._

"_Go on then, tell us!" Yell the obnoxious blonde of the group._

"_We aren't improving at all" Said a man with silver hair and a mask that leaves only one eye in clear sight._

"_It's the Teme's Fault, Kakashi-Sensei! Blame Him!" Naruto Yelled while pointing a finger accusingly at Sasuke._

"_Shut up Dobe." Said boy replied in a bored tone. "If you didn't stop training every three seconds to complain, talk about Ramen or ogle at Sakura we could have trained harder and for longer."_

"_Shut up Teme!"_

"_Make me Dobe."_

"_Grrrr Teme!"_

"_Baka."_

"_Loser!"_

"_Baka."_

"_You…You…Grrrrr…"_

"_Hn." Sasuke smirked at Naruto thus ending the fight._

"_Sakura you've been awfully quiet. What's wrong?"_

"_Hu? Oh, nothing Kakashi-sensei, it's just…"_

"_What?"_

"_Well…"_

"_What is it Sakura-chan?"_

"_I was thinking… Sasuke, Naruto and I only train to a lesser extent than we should because we get distracted by… well… each other, so I was thinking… um… that we should split up for… awhile… not too long though… just to train and stuff."_

"_That sounds like a good Idea Sakura but how would it help?" Inquired the Jounin._

"_Hn. Of course it would help. I could train way better without an annoying dobe and a weak fangirl holding me back."_

"_Sasuke-teme, don't say that about Sakura-chan!"_

"_It's true. She is weak. Also, she is pathetic, annoying and a sorry excuse for a ninja. I'm embarrassed to be on the same team as her." He stated coldly._

"_You Teme, say sorry to Sakura-chan. Now."_

"_Why should I say sorry for telling you the facts?"_

"_Take that back Teme! Sakura-chan is- eh? Sakura-chan? Where'd she go?"_

"_She probably ran off to cry somewhere." Sasuke declared. Naruto glared at him and was about to yell, but Kakashi stopped the boy before he got the chance._

"_Sasuke, that was unnecessary and a cruel thing to say. You should feel ashamed of yourself." Lectured the older ninja._

"_Hn."_

_**End Flash Back**_

The Uchiha boy recalled that to be the day that she didn't say a word to him until they left for four years. Even then, she didn't really talk to _him_, she spoke to Naruto. It wasn't until she came back that they had a conversation. Naruto noticed his team mate's not-on-earth look and hit him over the head.

Sasuke immediately woke from his trance and began to chase Naruto around, hitting him back a few times, before they settled down and left the ramen bar. Kakashi had gone sometime during Sasuke's reminiscing of the past. They passed the Yamanaka flower shop on the way home and began to wonder how team ten were taking Sakura's leaving.

Yamanaka Flower Shop

Ino has been pacing around the floor all morning, waiting for her team and thinking of her best, or is it ex-best now, friend none-stop. Her mother, Inokori, had begun to worry, but Inoichi, Ino's father, had assured her that the young blonde girl would be fine.

The truth of the matter was that Ino was far from fine. Her childhood friend had left to train, come home, 'Died', came back as an assassin and left again, the fourth being without Ino's knowledge of her true identity. It was slowly taking its toll on the Chunin and the only thing stopping her from marching up to the Akatsuki and demanding her friend back was her sever lack of power compared to the organisation.

Choji was disappointed in him self as well, but for reasons much different to his girlfriend's. He had ignored the obvious Sakura-like things that 'Kinikura' had done and, when he did notice them, he dismissed them as habits picked up from four years of training. How wrong he was. Sakura had been right in his sights and he still missed his friend's familiar chakra pattern, saying that it was paranoia developed from having the assassin so close.

Shikamaru was taking it the worst out of team ten though. Not only did he miss the obvious signs while she was in Konoha, but he played shoji _very_ often with her and _still_ didn't notice. It was a shame on his title of genius to have over-looked the information and not have discovered her true self before it was too late to stop her.

The team was meeting in the Yamanaka flower shop, as they always did, to go for training. None of them felt like confronting the others, or even going out side, but it had to be done. They had to let go before the knowledge of Sakura's passing on the village and living as a criminal hurt them further.

"Her Ino." Choji greeted the blonde unenthusiastically. She offered him a small smile and he sighed. She was more upset that the boys and he decided that she needed comforting in the way only he could. The Akimichi brunette walked over to Ino, earning a questioning look from her, and kissed his girlfriend on the lips.

It wasn't long but it made her feel better. It made her feel loved and safe, but she still wondered if Sakura felt this with the Akatsuki or if she felt alone and afraid with the criminal organisation. Choji broke the kiss and hugged her close to him, successfully calming her. Ino closed her eyes tightly and began to cry into her boyfriends shoulder.

When Shikamaru showed up and saw this he instantly felt even guiltier for not stopping Sakura before she left. The sound of someone clearing their throat came from behind the deer-named boy and he turned to face his sensei, Asuma. The other two faced the older, and as he said 'wiser', man as well and Shikamaru's face fell when he saw Ino's own features.

Her eyes where red and puffy while her bottom lip was quivering, threatening to release a sob or two. The blonde's tear-stained face was enough to tell the three men in the room that they would have to get Sakura back, one way or another, to bring the joy back to the konoichi and most of the other people of Konoha and some in Suna, mainly her fan-club.

The four ninja left for the training grounds and arrived just as Kurenai and team eight left for the day to train elsewhere. As Hinata passed Ino, the two konoichis shared a sympathetic glance. Ino became worried for Hinata's own sadness over the lost of Sakura to the Akatsuki and wondered how her and her team were taking it.

With Team Eight

"Are you okay Hinata-chan?" Kiba asked his female team mate after noticing the looks passed between her and the team ten konoichi. She seemed distant since that night one week ago, when Sakura left again, and even her husband, who's name is Hyuuga Shinrin and was a member of the main mist Hyuuga branch, a distant relation to the Konoha branches, had asked the men and woman of team eight if she was okay.

All of the members of the eighth team announced during graduation felt bad about not seeing though Sakura's disguise and still calling her a close friend. If they were as close as they claimed to be, then they would have noticed the two different people being one in the same as soon as they laid eyes on 'Kinikura'. Kiba and Shino had even spent a few months in the base with her and didn't notice.

The Hyuuga heiress, along with the Yamanaka flower girl, the no-last-named weapons mistress and the fan-wielder of Suna had been the worst cases of grief since her leaving. They were the closest to a family Sakura had since the death of her parents, who we later found out to be her aunt and uncle. The five girls all protected each other and, by letting her go without a fight, the remaining four felt at fault for her choice in life.

These thoughts lead Hinata to think of the number-name girl, Tenten, and how she dealt with the pain in her own way. No one would stop her from doing this, since it meant that she could relive all of her pent-up anguish in an hour or less. It was only because of the weapons she used that the pain didn't go away.

With Tenten and Team Gai

Tenten hurled another kunai at the target and hit the centre, just as she had done eleven times before. Her boyfriend, Lee, was beginning to worry for her, since she had been doing this everyday for the past week. It was her was to forget her pain, but she was using the weapons that Sakura had given her as a gift, so it wasn't working very well.

Her tears fell on the floor as she dropped her weapons to the floor and ran to hug the green-beast of Konoha for comfort. He willingly offered what she wanted and kissed her on the top of the head. He too was suffering at the loss of his ex-crush and close friend. No one would have guessed that Konoha's cherry blossom would turn bad, let alone Akatsuki-bad.

Neji was perfecting his gentle fist technique further away from his team, while contemplating his choices to get Sakura back at the same time. It was true that he had gotten a crush on Kinikura and enjoyed Sakura's company very much. It wasn't true that he thought of her a 'just a friend' though. he still liked her as more than that and wanted her to see him in the same way. One step at a time applies here though, and his first priority was to get Sakura back to Konoha.

The Hyuuga-branch boy had signed up for the Jounin exams and was hopeful to pass, just as every other person who had entered. If he made it to Jounin, then he could become ANBU and be closer to getting Sakura back. This though reminded him of Kankuro, who was entering the exams for the same reasons.

The sand siblings had left to go home a few days before, but Neji would be seeing all of them in Suna in two months. The Jounin exams were to be held there and the two older siblings were taking part. Gaara was Kazekage and had to over-see the event, so it was obvious that he would be there. Neji began to wonder how the betrayal of Sakura had taken its toll on the eldest sibling and only girl as well as Kankuro, who also had some feelings for her.

In Suna

Temari was sick of waiting for news about Sakura to come though from Konoha, since they got the information first. Sakura was like her little sister and she didn't want to be stuck in the unknown about her safety. Gaara had called her and Kankuro to the Kazekage's main hall to tell them news, but he didn't say any more than that.

The older man and woman entered the room and took seats at the table Gaara was sorting paper-work at. He looked up with blood-shot eyes, showing that he was loosing the sleep he had gained recently after the demon Shukaku had begun to communicate and reach understanding with the young Kazekage.

"I have news from Konoha." He stated. Temari and Kankuro perked up and began to listen closer than they had only moments before their younger brother spoke those words. "It seems that Sakura has arrived in the Akatsuki unharmed, but _I_ have no further information about it. Temari, on the other hand, had a letter addressed personally to her inside the envelope." He said, giving Temari the sealed envelope.

She opened it, careful not to damage the note inside, and began to read. It was from Hinata, Tenten and Ino and it told her that Sakura was closer to the side of Suna and Konoha in the war than the Akatsuki. She told her brothers the words written in the letter and they both visible seemed to be relived that Sakura might not have abandoned them after all.

It was only a matter of time until the war, and only so long until Sakura's loyalties would become clear.


	32. Unusual comfort

Chapter Thirty One

There was no one to assassinate. The man did exist, but he was killed yesterday and my mission was pointless. This was the leader trying to draw me out to complete his task, only to find I wasn't needed. My fists clenched in anger as I thought of the note by my feet. I was beginning to feel betrayed by the ones I have betrayed for and everyone I had ever trusted.

_A letter_. That is what I found upon my arrival at the destination set for the assassination I was to perform. _A letter_. Something that has changed my views on the organisation I call, or call_ed_, my family. Something that made me think twice about the place I grew up from the death of my parents. Something that made me loath the snake-idiot further. It was the most simple piece of paper I had ever laid eyes on, yet it displayed a delicate balance, making my question over who were my friends and enemies. The message was written for me and it was from the one I had once thought to love, a part of me still hoping to for-fill the words he wrote, but for making me choose he had become a snake more traitorous than Orochimaru himself. It was not a fake. I knew this for a fact, since his words where well-known in my mind and forever imprinted in my memory. It was real and it was from him. He was forcing me to choose. Everyone was.

_The base_

Terrane and Itachi haven't killed each other yet. That has to be a good thing, right? Their 'small' argument had recently grown into a fight. Well, Terrane was fighting; Itachi was just holding the small ninja-to-be back. He refused to hit a child, let alone a girl. This only enraged my little sister further and she began to kick and punch wildly. Her yelling, and some of his stressed sighs, could be heard from the other side of the base.

Deidara and Tyiko had left for bed an hour ago, mostly to escape the fighting, and Kisame, my own room mate, was doing some late-night training to try and lessen his on-coming headache. Karene was moping about wanting to go on the mission with Sakura-nee-chan, but had settled for more work on the puppet-project when Sasori offered. I just wanted to stay and make sure my sister was okay afterwards. We had always been the closest out of the four, now five, of us.

She and I were the two youngest siblings and couldn't help but defend the other at all times. This loving defence ranged from pick-me-ups after a shouting match with someone, like Terrane is having with Itachi now, to aid from bullies. Our four-person secret between my older brothers and younger sister was getting harder to keep the more time we were around Sakura-nee-chan, so we needed each other more than ever, just to keep our lips sealed.

"I don't want to hurt a little girl and make Sakura-chan go on a killing spree about it." I heard Itachi stated calmly and quietly. He seemed to be trying to end the argument while still keeping his pride. It wasn't working out too well.

"Well, I think that you're just scared to fight me, in case you lose!" She shot back hot-temperedly. It was not her best plan to insult the oldest Uchiha and prodigy of his ex-clan, but Terrane was never the type to think before she engaged her mouth.

Itachi looked right at her with a stressed looked marred into his features. I can't tell if he is planning to kill Terrane or not, but I hope that it's the latter. He sighed and rubbed his temples exaltedly, although he wasn't tired in the slightest.

"What do you have against me Terrane?" He asked, more like demanded, firmly. She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to think of something that he did to make her hate him, but she couldn't think of anything. The girl sighed and shook her head. This conversation carried on for a few more minuets and by the end the two ex-Konoha residents had made an, almost, peace.

_Terrane's PoV_

Itachi and I have found solid ground, neither in war or friendship, and he had agreed to help me train in fire-based jutsus and how to hide my weapons in the flame. It was a fun lesson, as fun as training with Itachi can get, and I had almost mastered Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique) where I hide shuriken in the flames.

He is a good sensei and my brothers are all jealous of my fire breathing. I told them that they all learn from someone too; I just got dragon breath to teach me while they got a fish, a tree (Sasori) and a clay-head. It was entertaining to find out that the twins have asked Sakura-nee-chan to help them make up some partner jutsu. They planned to bombard her with questions when she came back.

She has been gone for a few hours and it was almost time for dinner. Deidara was cooking tonight and he had agreed to make ramen and dango. This made Tyiko, the dango lover, very happy. After dinner we went to our room, which we shared with the Akatsuki members, and got ready for bed.

"Terrane, you can use the bathroom to change first, okay?" Itachi suggested. I nodded and picked out a white tank top with matching, white cotton shorts that went down to my knees. I will always prefer white to darker colours, which makes me the only person in the Akatsuki who could camouflage in clouds. I tied my long brown hair into a plat, so it was wavy, and not too knotty, when I woke up in the morning. After brushing my teeth and washing my face I went back out into Itachi's room and settled into the spare bed while he got changed.

Itachi soon left the bathroom dressed in black pyjama bottoms and no shirt, so Sakura-nee-chan's face would turn red like usually if she was here, and he climbed into his own bed. He turned out the lights and soon I heard his breathing even out, signalling sleep. I waited for a few second before letting myself drift into semi-sleep, never letting my guard drop.

_**Dream**_

_I walked though a battlefield, blood was everywhere, but I was blind to that fact. To the right of the field stood the Akatsuki; opposite them, on the left, were the Konoha ninja and behind me stood the shinobi and konoichi from the country of sound. I was, however, blind to the three groups, only one gathering of people were there in my eyes._

_Standing in front of me was my brothers and adoptive-sister. I saw myself shaking in fear and holding Sakura's leg, closing my eyes to try and make the sight disappear. My older sister told something to my dream relatives and they moved back, away from the scene of fighting. A light enveloped the pink-haired woman, I paid no attention to the colour though, and when is dimmed I gasped, both my true form and my dream replica._

_Sakura was standing with two other people that looked a bit like her. One of them ran to the Akatsuki, one to Konoha and the other to sound. She seemed to be siding with all of them. I became confused when I didn't see her, or her accomplices, face the opposition._

_They, instead, began to back into the centre of the field, one walking though my astral self on the way. She looked at me, right into my eyes, and I saw the Zoneingan, the bloodline of those who had saved my small family. She stopped and seemed to, while remaining motionless, reach out to take me to safety, but her mind's will withdrew soon enough._

_It all happened in a blur. The tree sides all rushed at each other and before I could scream out, Sakura was on the floor, cold and dead, with the enemies looking at her with something different on each of their faces. She began to speak in a raspy voice. She said-_

I woke with a start and threw my covers off of me. Tears were cascading down my pale face and fear was carved into my eyes. If what I saw was a dream, it was very real. If it was a vision of the future… I shuddered to think about it and dismissed the thought from my mind before it had time to settle.

My warm bed seem cold and uninviting now and I decided that I wouldn't be able to sleep in it again tonight, for fear of the blooded nightmares coming back to haunt my fragile mind. When I was scared in Konoha, or up until now at the Akatsuki, when I was afraid or I had risen from a nightmare, Sakura would comfort me and I would sleep next to her. The warmth from another sent me into a deep, safe feeling sleep.

Sakura-nee-chan wasn't here now and I was alone. Someone took a deep breath and then exhaled loudly, still in an almost soundless slumber afterwards. I turned my head to the other human in the room and sighed. I would rather sleep without nightmare than with them. That meant that I would need to ask _him_ if I could sleep in his bed, like some scared child.

I was a scared child right now though. Not knowing whether or not he would turn me down, I walked slowly over to the sleeping Uchiha prodigy and took a breath. If he said no then I wouldn't get sleep, if I didn't ask then the situation would be similar, if not the same. After gathering up a lot of courage, I gently tugged on the covers that were draped over the sleeping man.

He cracked open an eye and closed it again, turning his back on me in the process. A low noise outside, that sounded suspiciously like Kisame's growling when Sakura-nee-chan refused to make him a snack, made me jump. With the dream and the 'monsters' growling outside put together I was on the verge of terrified tears. Without trying to wake him again, or asking before doing so, I climbed onto his bed and slid under the covers.

He turned to me, awake from my sudden strike of boldness, and gave me a questioning glance. I was shaking, still in fear, and tears were pouring out of my eyes. I hiccupped lightly and pulled the covers up higher, so that the hem of the black sheets touched the bridge of my nose. Itachi pulled them down slightly and gave me the same look. I did not answer and he took the covers off me completely.

"Out." Said the Uchiha killer simply and coolly. I complied, but remained standing by the edge of his bed. "What now?" He asked tiredly, rising into a sitting position in his bed with the covers around his waist. I had woken him up and now I was stopping him from closing his eyes and sleeping again. I began to shuffle and move my feet around under his gaze and scolded myself inwardly for waking him and being so fearful of every little thing.

"I-I had a-a night-m-mare and t-then I-I he-heard a noise f-from outside." I told him quietly. I began to look anywhere in the room other than at the man in front of me. My self hate only grew when he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, as if he was going to stand, but he remained seated.

"So? Why do your nightmares concern me?" He questioned harshly.

"I-I'm scared and S-Sakura-nee-chan let me sleep with her when I h-had nightmares w-while she was h-here." I explained, hoping that he would leave it at than and give me a 'yes' or 'no' answer.

"Do I _look_ like your sister to you?"

"N-No, but-"

"Then why-" I looked up at him with tears both in my eyes and staining my cheeks. The twenty-year-old man sighed and scooted over to the other side of his bed, laid down and began to breathe gently. "Are you getting in or not?" He asked, still not facing my smaller form.

I smiled and climbed back into his bed, snuggled under his covers and felt almost ready to sleep. Itachi was now lying on his back and he was sleeping soundly. I did what I always did to Sakura-nee-chan when she let me in her bed. I crawled over to the male and hugged his arm, snuggling into his warmth like he was a teddy bear.

Itachi stiffened slightly from the sudden contact, but relaxed as the small girl began to breathe steadily. A flash outside mildly diverted his attention to the window, and his suspicion only grew when he head some one get hit and a voice that seemed to say 'yeah' getting shushed. Terrane nuzzled further into the crook of his elbow and he let the curiosity in the pit of his stomach die, since he didn't want to wake the small girl for his curiosity.

The girl sighed and slipped into a, now pleasant, dream. Her 'teddy' seemed to look towards the small window, but he didn't move or pull away from her. She slept throughout the night, holding onto the murderer like he was her life-line, her saviour. _'Thank you Itachi-kun'_

Outside

"Kisame, did you have to growl so loud?" Asked a grey eyed twin. His brother's room mate grinned slightly and nudged the blonde, who was currently holding a camera.

"Did you get the picture?" He shark asked the clay manipulator. He grinned and nodded slightly, still being careful of the newly formed bump on his head, courtesy of his red-haired partner.

'_Black-mail.'_ The six people outside the window thought to themselves.

With Sakura

'_I can't believe this. How can they think so little of me?! Am I just a weapon or something?'_ Sakura thought to herself. She was seething in anger as she ran to the base she once called home. On her way, she dropped the note, not bothering to pick it up or destroy the cursed piece of paper before leaving.

_Sakura,_

_Choose your side, fast. Your Akatsuki Leader, the Hokage of fire and Orochimaru are planning the war around you. I hope to see you soon, princess._

_Your handsome Owl._

'_**I miss you too… my Owl…'**_


	33. Kidnap

Chapter Thirty Two

I woke up and stretched my tired arms, hitting something in the process. I looked to my left and saw a head of black hair. My eyes wondered to the face of the black hair and I lightly traced the scars on his cheeks with my fingers. His eyes shot open from the contact and I was so shocked that I fell backwards, off the bed, and onto the floor. My blue orbs were seals shut, but I never felt the hard floor. The only thing I felt during my fall was a hand on my back, pulling me back up.

I cracked open one eye open and then the other. My balance was back and I was sitting on the bed once more, legs crossed in front of me. The eldest Uchiha brother, who had stopped my impact with the floor, sighed and got up. He walked into the bathroom and I heard the shower turning on. Taking this as a sign to get my own things together, so that I could use the bathroom after him, I did so.

Itachi came out ten minuets later wearing his usual Akatsuki uniform, minus the cloak, and the ever-present pony-tail. His hair was still slightly wet, but I paid no attention to it as I walked into the bathroom and began my morning routine. First brushing my teeth, then a shower, then drying myself, brushing my hair and finally dressing.

The outfit I chose for the day included an icy-blue tank-top and a white, knee-length skirt with slits up to my hips and baby-blue under shorts. After clothing myself I put the Hatei-ate Sakura-nee-chan had taken for me, which she had placed on a light blue band for me rather than the navy blue ones they came on, around my neck and walked out of the bathroom. Itachi scanned my clothing and approved it for training. He was always the first to comment on my over-usage of light colours for my clothing, but gave up when he noticed that I didn't own anything black, or even dark.

We walked to the kitchen for breakfast, only to discover that the others were already there. My brothers were all sitting at the table, eating a small bowl of cereal each, and the other men were by the kitchen counters, with some coffee and toast, talking about recent missions and other boring stuff.

I grabbed some cereal and joined my older siblings, while Itachi got some of the black, liquid death. I was almost tempted to tell them that coffee was a poison, and disgusting at that, but decided to let them find that out for themselves in the not-so-near future. My brothers all silently questioned the small smirk playing on my face, but I glared to make them turn away, it worked like a charm.

"Sakura… home… war." I heard from the other side of the kitchen. The conversation of my sister had caught my attention, but when they said war I strained my ears to hear more.

"What about…. –sama. I know that he had… plans… Sakura." Kisame's words were drowned in his gruff voice and hard to make out, but Sasori's were clear and made me gasp.

"Sakura will take our side in the war. Whether we have to force her on not is up to her." He stated, taking another drink from his green coffee mug. I stood from my seat, never taking a bite of my food, and ran out to the training fields.

When I got there the first thing I did was grab a lot of kunai and shuriken and I began to throw them at the target, hitting the bulls-eye every time. This continued for another few hours until Deidara came out and saw me. By this time I had ran the obstacle course, which Itachi had built for the older members and my brothers and I were never supposed to use, four times. Cuts and bruises were scattered all over my arms, legs, torso and anywhere else I haven't named. It hurt.

"Terra-chan, what are you doing, yeah?" He asked me, concern deeply sheltered in his words.

"What did Saso-kun mean by 'Whether we have to force her on not is up to her'?" I asked back, never stalling my question. Deidara seemed surprised that I would ask something like that and sighed.

"Terra-chan, there's a war coming, yeah. Sakura needs to choose a side and leader-sama says that we need her strength for _us_. She'll be the difference between wining and loosing this war and we need her to stay." The blonde explained to me.

"I can't stand this! Why would she be needed for a war? Sakura-nee-chan hates wars!" I yelled. "I can't stay here if there's going to be a war, I'm leaving to go back to Konoha." I exclaimed truthfully.

"Sorry Terra-chan." Deidara said.

"For… what?"

"This." I felt a pain in the base of my neck as someone hit a cluster of nerves that would knock me unconscious. "We need you too. You can't leave." Were the last words I heard from the blue-eyed bomber before I fell into darkness.

In Konoha

The remaining people in the Konoha twelve, the sand siblings and Sai were getting ramen at Ichiruka, a usual Friday routine. Naruto had miso, his third bowl might I add, and yelled out for another. To the left of the energetic blonde were Shikamaru and, on the left of him, his new girlfriend, Temari. They were sharing a bowl of spicy ramen, since Shikamaru said that it was too troublesome to buy two bowls. On Naruto's right was Hinata eating shrimp ramen, her husband, Shinrin, was on her right, eating miso and Ino was to the right of him, with her bowl of beef ramen emptying fast. Much to Ino's delight, Choji was on the right of her and Sasuke sat next to him, both with the same ramen as Ino.

Kiba, Shino, Lee and Neji were sitting at a table close to the bar, all eating different types of ramen, and Tenten was behind the bar. The weapons mistress needed some extra cash while missions were slow, due to the up-coming war, and had taken a job as a waitress at the ramen bar. Sai, Gaara and Kankuro were also at a table, near the bar and the other four who weren't sitting in the same place as the majority of the shinobi.

"Guys!" Someone shouted as they entered the ramen bar. Everyone turned to the door and saw Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi standing there, out-of-breath. The former was the one who shouted and he raised his had, signalling that he would continue when he had his breath back.

"Read this page in the new bingo book! You won't believe it!" Udon yelled, getting impatient of his friends lack of stamina. Moegi grabbed the book from the, still panting, group leader and showed them page one. It read:

_Name: Haruno Sakura_

_Aliases: Tomito Kinikura, Huntress_

_Current rank: S-rank missing-nin_

_Current Affliction: Akatsuki_

_Previous Affliction: Konohagakure, Tsunade (Apprentice)_

_Current Team: Unknown_

_Previous Team: Team Seven (Uchiha Sasuke, Uzamaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi)_

_Signature_ _jutsu/Kekkei genkai: Zoneingan_

_Additional Information: Know for appearance (Pink hair, green eyes)_

"So? We've seen it before." Ino stated, depression finding its way into her tone. Konohamaru shook his head before pointing to the last line, at the bottom of the page.

_Current Afflictions: Changed and currently unknown_

The people who could see the line gasped. This meant that she might not be a member of the Akatsuki anymore. This might mean that she'll be on their side for the war!

"I need to find the Konoha twelve and the sand siblings!" Someone yelled from outside the shop. The aforementioned people exited the shop, dropping money on the way out. A Chunin turned to them and sighed in relief of finding them.

"Tsunade-sama needs you, immediately!" He informed the ninja. they exchanged glanced and left, leaving Shinrin and Sai behind, since they weren't summoned.

"What do you think Baa-sama wants Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asked as he hopped to another roof.

"I don't know dobe."

_Hop_

"What if it's about the war?"

_Hop_

"Then Sai would have been summoned."

_Hop_

"Maybe we all have a mission!"

_Hop_

"All of us? That's unlikely!"

_Land_

"Here we are." Naruto said as he entered the tower, followed by Sasuke and the other people that Tsunade had asked to see. They found her in her office, pacing around and mumbling odd sentences that made no sense. She would stop and drink some of her sake every now-and-then, before going back to pacing and mumbling.

"You wanted to see us, Tsunade-sama?" Tenten asked. the Hokage looked up and nodded, taking her seat as the others did the same or just got comfortable in some other way.

"This news might come as a shock for all of you, so I want you to remain calm and not jump around and shout,_ Naruto_." The Hokage explained. Naruto laughed quietly and went back to listening, eager to hear what would be classed as a shock for both the Hyuuga _and_ the Uchiha prodigies.

"Sakura has come to join us in the war." She stated.

Everyone became silent and Ino gasped. Wide-eyed, open-mouthed ninjas were the only ones present in the Hokage's office after her sudden announcement. Neji was the first to recover from his initial shock and began to ask questions of the current arrangements.

"When will she arrive?"

"Now." The Hokage answered.

"How long will she stay this time?" Ino asked, her eyes slowly filling with tears.

"I don't know."

"Why did she come back?" Sasuke asked this time. Tsunade didn't answer this question; a voice from the shadows did for her. The voice was soft and powerful, yet reduced to the sound of a sobbed statement as it was obviously laced with tears that have already been shed, some still waiting to fall.

"Because the Akatsuki kidnapped my siblings!"


	34. ANBU

Chapter Thirty Three

"_Because the Akatsuki kidnapped my siblings!"_

"Sakura-chan?"

"SAKU-CHAN!" Ino yelled and embraced her friend, their tears mixing as one thought of her gained friend and the other remembered her lost family. Sakura hugged her back and Tenten ran to join the two, hugging Sakura like a sister. Not too long after, Hinata joined them and then Temari.

"I-I can't b-believe your b-back S-Saku-chan!" Hinata exclaimed, louder than usual. The pink-haired girl sniffed in response and the boys in the room noticed her appearance for the first time, the girls were too busy fussing over her and the fact she returned to notice.

Her clothes, which consisted of baggy black trousers and a tight, long-sleeved, black top, were torn in several places with burnt fabric creating holes in the arms and the torso of her top and the legs of her trousers. The burn marks weren't only on her clothing, as they went though to her skin and singed it.

Several cuts scattered her entire body and face. They still bled, but Sakura was slowly, and unconsciously, healing them with chakra. Her face had tear-stains running down her cheeks, leading to red, puffy eyes that still held tears. Pink hair was a mess on top of her head, and it seemed that she hadn't brushed it in weeks.

"What happened to you, Sakura-san?" Neji asked curiously. After his question the girls began to observe the pink-haired missing-nin and Sakura stiffened.

"N-Nothing." She replied, sounding defeated.

"Tell us Sakura." Kiba demanded. Said girl gulped, looked around at the stone faces of the males in the room and sighed.

"Fine. I found out that my siblings were taken as soon as I got back to the base…"

_**Flash back**_

_Sakura walked into the base, threw her cloak over a hanger in the hall, and walked into the living room. She had expected her siblings to greet her as soon as she entered the base, but it was all quiet. Getting a bit worried, Sakura got up from the seat she had flopped into and began to scour the base. No one was home._

_After deciding that they weren't in any of the common room, not including the bedrooms, she walked out to the training grounds. There were a few kunai and shuriken with Terrane's insignia, angel wings with a silver halo above them, on the hilt of the kunai and in the centre of the shuriken. Other than that, and the obvious remains of someone running Itachi's obstacle course, the weapon-training grounds were completely empty and void of live. An inspection of the ground, she's not called a Hunter for having poor tracking skills; she noticed that two of the freshest sets of foot-prints belonged to Terrane and Deidara._

_The pink-haired-nin decided to check the speed and stamina area of the training fields, to see of Karene, the fastest, was there to increase his speed. The training area had a few foot-prints on the ground and around the track, but none of them were too fresh. It looked as if no one had been here in about two days. The newest tracks belonged to Karene and Kisame, even though the fish-man hated the stamina area._

_It seemed odder when she checked the chakra enhancing and jutsu practicing areas. This was usually the twin's favourite training area, since this section held this best area in ninja-ability. There were four sets of prints here. The twins owned two of them and the other ones belonged to Itachi and Sasori. It was probably because the two men were helping them train, just as Deidara was doing with Terrane in the weapons section and Kisame was doing with Karene in the speed section._

_A noise came from the main building that made the petite girl jump from being startled. She walked into the base again and saw Deidara running to his room after spotting her. Sakura narrowed her eyes dangerously and followed after him. A banging sound came from Kisame's room and Sakura, being the curious Hunter she is, decided to open the door and look to find what had made the noise._

_What she saw in the room made her eyes widen and shock consumed her. Beside the chest of draws sat four children. They were all tied with chakra ropes and seemed to be blooded, bruised and unconscious. She gasped when Ryiko looked at her and sobbed. His act of sadness and terror woke the other three and they looked at her with the same eyes. Begging her to help them._

_Sakura couldn't contain herself and ran to her fallen siblings, trying to get the ropes off, but failing each attempt. By this time she and her small __katei were in tears over their current situation and she was practically trying to shred the ropes apart with her bare hands, since the weapons she had used were ineffective._

"_You know that they won't break Sakura-chan, yeah." A voice reminded her from the door. She turned to the door with her teary eyes set into an intimidating glare. The blonde man flinched at the ice of the look being directed at him. He looked down in shame after taking another look at the beaten children._

"_Why did you do this to them?!" Sakura yelled at her former friend, seething with anger and hate. Deidara seemed to stutter around his own words for a while, willing himself to tell her the correct answer._

"_We had no choice." A deep, masculine voice said from the hall behind Deidara. The bomber turned to see Sasori standing in the hall, with Itachi and Kisame on either side of him. All four of them seem to have regret and sorrow forced deep into their souls for betraying their friend like this, using her family against her._

"_Why?" She questioned. Her voice was hoarse from the tears and she appeared to be completely confused as to the reason why her closest friends and family hurt her and her siblings like this, in two different ways, physically and mentally._

"_Orders." Itachi replied bluntly. "You have four choices to help or destroy them and yourself Sakura." He told her._

"_Name them." She demanded, regaining her composure and standing up from the floor._

"_One, you can fight against Konoha, Suna and sound in the war. That would mean fighting with us." Kisame informed his pink-haired sister-like friend._

"_Next." She ordered._

"_Two, you can leave your siblings and go to Konoha, hoping that they'll take you back, leaving your siblings with us in the process." Sasori said, hoping that she wouldn't choose this option._

"_Next." Sakura couldn't imagine leaving her siblings to die with the Akatsuki, torturing them till the end._

"_Three, go to sound and hope for the same." Deidara told her, hoping the same thing as Sasori about this option._

"_The last option?"_

"_Four, you can fight us and go. Leave with your siblings and fight against us in the war. It's up to you." Itachi concluded for her._

_She seemed to think each of these options over, even though one and four were the only one's she would ever consider. After a while she made up her mind and took a final look to her old base mates. Sakura bombarded them with shuriken, kunai and whatever else she could find that had a point and could kill. Itachi was hit twice in the leg, Sasori once in his arm, Kisame had used his Samehada to block them all and Deidara had taken five shuriken in his stomach, none too deep though._

"_So have it." Sasori pronounced and took out one of his puppets._

_**End flash back**_

"…I won but… Kisame hit me with the Samehada and I had to retreat before I had the chance to get my katei. I was… s-so w-weak!" Sakura ended her story and burst into tears. Hinata comforted her by placing a small, pale hand on her shoulder and looked to the Hokage. "I didn't know where else to go!" The sobbing girl confessed.

"I guess that you can stay here, since you have both a purpose and a means to join us and defeat the Akatsuki." The Hokage said, allowing Sakura to, once again, join the ranks of Konoha. "Neji, take her to get an ANBU uniform and a tattoo, since I'm sure she is of that rank now." The Hyuuga prodigy nodded and led the, now no longer crying, girl to the building where they would get her uniform.

"Are you sure that we can trust her Tsunade-sama?" Choji questioned. He received glares, first from the girls and then the boys.

"You have no idea what she went though as a child!" Tenten told him, explaining the reason for the female glares placed upon him.

"You didn't go to the Akatsuki and spend time with her as Kinikura there. She was still the same person, just with a different rank, power and statues." Naruto explained, doing the same as Tenten did, but for the boys rather than the girls.

"I wasn't at the base and I haven't heard from anyone about her past experiences, so I have to agree with Choji-san." Lee confessed, receiving a betrayed look from his girlfriend. "Are you sure we can trust her Tsunade-sama?" Lee echoed the previously asked question.

"I don't know." Tsunade answered, worrying about the same question.

With Sakura and Neji

"So, how have you been?" Neji asked, uncharacteristically trying to strike up a question with the silent konoichi. She looked at him as if he was stupid and he mentally hit himself over the head for asking such a stupid question.

"Other than what you know, I've been tired as well as feeling stupid and completely humiliated for almost turning to full-our begging for help from the place I left… twice. That answer your question." Sakura told him quietly. He risked a look at the dangerous woman beside him and felt pity for her. She had just lost her family and nothing made any sense to her any more. She was going everywhere without purpose and, since her sibling were now gone, she was alone.

He sighed and looked up, noticing that they had arrived at the building. Neji opened the door for her and she walked inside, closely followed by the ANBU captain. He walked towards the person who could direct them to the uniforms they needed and cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Neji-sama!" The person exclaimed as he looked up. "How can I help you?"

"I need an ANBU uniform for my… associate here." The coffee-haired boy replied, reluctant to say friend in case she didn't see him as such. The boy nodded and walked over to the assassin, calling two girls over as he came. The girls, one with light blonde hair tied into a loose plat and brown eyes and the other with orange, cropped hair and grey eyes, came over to the brown-haired, blue-eyed man with tape-measures and clipboards.

"Does she need regular, captain or black-op uniform?" The blonde woman questioned in a smooth, but high-pitched, voice, making Sakura wish that she didn't feel the need to speak again. Neji pondered this for a moment and remembered what Ino had told him a few months, almost a year, ago, when 'Kinikura' had first come to Konoha.

"_She's above ANBU black-op level!"_

Also, judging on the fact of her being Tsunade's apprentice, she would probably be a great healer on top of her fighting skills.

"Get her an ANBU black-op medic uniform." He requested.

"Regular, solo or captain of black-op?" The second girl asked, in a voice that was much easier on the ears.

"Solo fighter." Neji informed them. The girls nodded and took her measurements, recording them onto the clipboards as they went. As soon as they had finished with the tape measures they left and the man went back behind his desk, to log the outfit combination as taken.

"Excuse me, I'm going to need your name, so that I can record who took the uniform." The man said to Sakura.

"Her name is Kini-" Neji started, but was interrupted but his pink-haired _associate_.

"My name is Haruno Sakura." She told him. His eyes went wide and he dropped his pen. The girls returned with an ANBU black-op uniform that had a silver band sewn onto the end of each glove, to signal her pace as a healer, and a dark crimson undershirt, to show her as a solo fighter and not a squad-member. They lead her away to try on the outfit and she came back wearing the whole ANBU uniform, except the mask.

"What about her mask?" Neji enquired.

"She needs to take a test to discover the most fitting animal for her mask to resemble and get an ANBU tattoo." The orange-haired woman explained to him. He nodded and Sakura was lead down many halls, this time with Neji following after her. She was sat in a seat and a man approached her, a needle for tattooing grasped in his right hand.

"Another ANBU?" He asked. Neji nodded and the man began the ANBU tattoo on Sakura's pale arm. After ten minuets of the needle inserting the ink in the ANBU pattern and another five of her holing a tissue over the mark to stop the bleeding she was done.

"Now you need to take a test to figure out the animal that would suit your mask the best." Neji told her as they walled down even more corridors.

"Hn." She replied.

The test had a waiting time, due to other ANBU taking it, and she had to wait in the waiting room, Neji not being allowed into the testing building in case he gave anyone answers. He replied that it wouldn't matter if he _did_ give out the answers, since the test was unimportant, but was made to wait outside anyway. Sakura took a seat next to a man with cerulean blue eyes and chocolate-brown hair. He seemed to look at her oddly and for a long time, but didn't say anything.

"Can I help you?" Sakura asked snappily. She had a tiring day and a lot of horrible things had happened. Being stared at by a guy, who looked to be in his thirties, she was twenty at this point, wasn't on her to-do list. He smirked and extended his hand.

"Hi, my name's Sai." He introduced himself.

"Sakura." She replied, shaking his hand out of pure politeness.

"Neboutoshi Sai, could you please step into the testing room?" A voice sounded from a loudspeaker in the corner of the room.

"That's me, I got to go. Nice meeting you Sakura." He said as he walked away. Just as he turned the corner I saw something on his arm, jut below the Konoha ANBU tattoo. It was another ANBU tattoo. A tattoo from the mist.


	35. Snake in the Dark

Chapter Thirty Four

'_A mist ANBU?'_ **'We came from mist!'** _**'He looks familiar…'**_ My thoughts wandered from the ex-mist, and current Konoha, ANBU as another name was called for the test. More and more people left and the room became almost empty. As I was about to fall asleep the door, the one everyone had walked though to do the test, opened and a man stepped out. He had an owl mask on and his brown hair was visible in the back. He looked _really_ familiar this time.

I was going to call out to him, asking him to stop so that I could see whom he was, but my name was called, by the same woman who had call the other ANBU for animal selection, and I had to report into the testing room for the ANBU animal exam.

"Haruno Sakura?" An elderly man with grey hair and glassy green eyes asked me.

"Hai." I responded curtly.

"I am going to ask you a series of questions to determine your placement in the ANBU animal ranks in your selected part of the organisation." Another man, who had blonde hair and brown eyes, explained to me. A sting in my eye occurred when he said 'organisation' but I nodded none the less.

"First, which ANBU position have you taken?" A woman, with red hair and brown eyes, asked me kindly, too kind for a ninja, which is most likely why she was given this job.

"Solo ANBU medic." I stated bluntly and to the point.

"How were yo taught your medical skills?" The old man asked.

"Tsunade-sama took me as her apprentice and I have surpassed her teachings." I told them. The young woman and the second man, the blonde, gasped.

"How old are you?" The woman enquired.

"Twenty."

"What is your current affliction with the village hidden in the leaves and its allies?" The old man queried.

"I have just returned to the village and am ready to serve the Hokage and her allies."

"Where have you returned from?"

"Akatsuki."

"Explain."

"I betrayed the village two years ago and joined the Akatsuki as the assassin, Tomito Kinikura. Most know me as Huntress."

"Reasons for your return?"

"The Akatsuki betrayed me and kidnapped my younger siblings."

"What was your initial course of action when you found out?"

"I fought the Akatsuki to get them back, but failed when one of the members attacked me from behind and I had to flee."

"What would you do if your team mate was caught in a trap and the enemy was drawing near?" Asked the woman, taking over the questioning, and successful changing the subject.

"I would help them for as long as I could. If, however, the enemy was going to catch up before I could release them, I would leave to complete the mission and hope that my team mate would survive."

"Would your decision alter depending on who was trapped or who was coming?"

"Yes."

"In what way?"

"If I could defeat the enemy easily and save the life of my team mate, without loosing too much necessary time, then I would."

"What about the person trapped? Would your decision change depending on who _they_ are?"

"…No."

"Very well. You may leave and collect your mask in the next room. Take these with you." The younger man told me, handing me three pieces of paper and directing me out of the room. I was almost in the next room, where I would get my mask, and I heard the older man's voice, addressing his associates.

"We should keep and eye over the betrayer, lest she destroy us all."

My eyes became downcast when he labelled me as 'The betrayer', but the title did fit. I still preferred to be called 'Huntress' though. I carried the papers though the door, to the next room, and was met by the sight of three men, two women and a row of pictures on the walls of the, quite large but not massive, den.

Two of the men and one of the women were seated at a workbench, which had paints, brushes, moulds and ceramic mix scattered all over it. Another man was sat at the far end of the room, on a stool, with the second woman. The man sitting on the stool noticed me first and walked over to my shorter form. He had short, snippy brown hair and dark brown eyes.

"Hello, how can we help you today?" He asked sweetly, sounding like a bad advert or a desperate clerk. I sighed and answered him.

"I need a mask." I told the man, handing him the three pieces of paper that the examiners gave to me. He scanned over them, looked at me and turned his attention back to the sheets.

"A serpent?" He questioned, mostly to himself, and the girl, who was sitting with him when I came in, got up and strode over to where we were standing. Her shoulder-length, golden hair, which slightly resembled Naruto's, flew behind her with each step and her oceanic blue eyes had worry set deeply with in the dark centre. She took the sheets and looked them over, surprise etched on her angelic face.

"No one has ever been a serpent before." She observed, hurrying over to the wall to find a picture of a real snake for the painters to work from. She found one under the many pictures of birds and handed it to the woman by the moulds and the ceramic mix. The woman by the mix had lime-green hair, in a pixie cut, and gold eyes. She began to mix the ingredients and poured them into a fresh, never before used mould. After that was done she placed it into a kiln and left it to set.

"A serpent. That's never happened before. You're the first one of them we've had. By the way, my name is Horako Yuuki." Introduced one of the painters. He had dark, forest-green hair and yellow eyes, which I though to be rather enchanting. "This lovely mask-maker is my sister, Horako Hatsumoto." Yuuki gestured to the woman with the lime-green hair and she smiled at me too.

"Hello beautiful. My name is Garto Jookido." The other painter stated. He had waist-length, ice-blue hair and orange eyes. His voice was deep, a bit higher in pitch than Itachi's, and smooth.

"I'm Kuro Fantomato, and this is my wife, Kuro Temasteri." The man who had spoken first, with the brown hair, said to me. His wife, Temasteri, turned out to be the girl with the blonde hair. "What about you, serpent?" He asked, still in a kind way.

"Haruno Sakura. Ex-missing-nin and current solo ANBU medic/assassin for the leaf and her allies." I said, introducing myself in the proper way rather than just my name.

"Assassin?" Temasteri asked, confused.

"My assassin name was Huntress." I explained. None of them gasped or became fearful, as I had expected, but they all remained smiling and cheerful.

"Well Haruno-san-"

"Please, call me Sakura." I requested.

"How about Sakura-_chan_?" Jookido wondered smoothly. I smiled a little and nodded my head, him responding with a small victory dance.

"Sorry about my cousin, he always acts like that around a pretty girl." Temasteri explained to me. I nodded and smiled at her.

"Hey, bro, I think that the mask is ready!" Hatsumoto called to Fantomato. He nodded and told her to take it out of the kiln and let it cool.

"Bro?" I wondered.

"Half brother really. My mother married their father." He explained.

'**So, Yuuki and Hatsumoto and siblings…'**_** '…Fantomato is their half sibling though marriage…'**__ '…Making Temasteri their half-sister-in-law, due to her marriage to Fantomato…'_ **'…And Jookido is the cousin of Temasteri…' **_**'…Making him the half-cousin-in-law to Yuuki and Hatsumoto…'**__ '…And a regular cousin-in-law to Fantomato...'_** '…Which makes this whole work area a mix up of family relations and people with **really** long names!' **_**'Except Yuuki, his name isn't too long, and Jookido's name is just a bit longer than normal.'**_

"So, everyone is related in one way or another?" I questioned, just to be sure.

"Yep, that's pretty much it." Jookido responded. "Hand me the mask, I need to put the base on it before Yuuki paints the pattern!" He commanded.

His half-cousin-in-law did so and Jookido began to paint the grey/tan mask white, ready for the other colour/colours.

Once the basing was done, Jookido got Temasteri to place it in the kiln to dry for a while. When it was done, Yuuki got it and used red paint to apply curved lines around the eye-holes and trailed them down the cheeks, intertwining the original lines with others along the way.

On the paper the mask-makers were given, the examiners had written down my apprentice of Tsunade, and so Yuuki painted a gem, the same as the woman Hokage's, onto the forehead of my serpent mask. It matched the gem that the tattooist had placed in the centre of her ANBU tattoo earlier that day.

I took my, now dry and fully painted, mask and attached it to my face. The girls, who were now called 'Teri-chan' and 'Moto-chan', convinced me to spin a few times so that they could take a good look at me.

"Serpent-chan, you need a new hair-style." Moto observed. Teri agreed with a nod of her head and walked towards a bag, only to come back with a comb and a few bands. "You boys can leave for a minuet, while we fix up serpent-chan." The lime-haired girl said to shoo the boys away. As soon as the males had left the room the two girls began to brush my waist-length, pink hair and pulling it up, down, left and right, trying to find the perfect, but still practical, style.

It took half and hour and my hair did look wonderful. They had separated a part of the top layer from the bottom and put it unto a loose, but still waits-length, plat using dark purple ribbons. The bottom layer had been left down and my bangs were curled slightly, hanging over the edges of my mask.

"Thanks you two, my hair looks amazing." I complimented as I peered into the mirror Teri-chan had given me. They exchanged looks and then turned to me. "What do you want then?" I asked, annoyed that the hair-style was an exchange.

"We heard that Huntress has purple eyes, her bloodline limit." Moto stated.

"It's called the Zoneingan." I told her.

"Right, we were wondering if… well… could we see it?" Teri asked hopefully. I sighed and removed my mask, careful not to ruin my newly-styled hair. I looked at them with my emerald orbs and they slowly began to change. The lilac colour soaked into the green from my pupil and then my purple eyes seemed to ripple, changing the black pupil silver and adding the silver ripples, which appeared only in fully developed Zoneingan.

"Wow." The girls chimed simultaneously. I shook my head and closed my eyes, opening them as the green colour they truly are. My new friends smiled at me and called the boys back in.

"Wow, you look great serpent-chan." Jookido complemented, using the name they had given me as reference to my mask. I smiled at him and he was sent into his own, dreamy world. This made me giggle slightly and shake my head at his fan-boy-ish behaviour. He was probably the only one who acted like that I would ever talk to as a friend.

"I have to go. Neji-san is waiting for me. Bye Moto-chan, Teri-chan, Joo-kun, Fanto-kun, Yuu-kun!" I said, using the shortened names I decided to use for all of them.

On my way out I was stopped by Jookido grasping my elbow and grinning at me. He handed me the sheets of paper and silently told me to read them. I then picked up my mask and carried it in my hand. After waving to the mask-making, slightly confusing in relation, family, I left the room. The hallways lead me around the examiners room and I exited though the door I had used to take the test. As I walked back into the waiting room I looked at the description on the sheet, which the examiners thought described me best and the reason I was named a serpent.

"_Haruno Sakura, Serpent. Reasons for animal: The konoichi is filled with __Life and, when rebirth of the next life occurs, she will become a serpent. After training with Tsunade-sama, she can use resurrection jutsu and has healing abilities. She also has wisdom and a passion for the life of a konoichi. However, her words are laced poison; she is a destroyer, full of malice. This girl is not to be trusted."_

Many of the words suggested that I would betray the village at any given moment and the paper made my stomach churn. I screwed up the sheets and threw them in the bin as I passed it.

The sun was bright when I stepped outside and I saw Neji just up ahead. He was leaning on the wall, looking either very bored or asleep. As I was about to call out to him, my mask was still in my hand so he would have heard me clearly, a hand covered my mouth and pulled me away from the ANBU captain. I struggled against my captor, but it was no use.

I felt a sharp pain on my neck and everything went black.


	36. Chapter Thirty Five

Chapter Thirty Five

_**Everything went black…**_

_I woke up to a throbbing pain in my head and I couldn't see a thing by any light, other than that of the moon. After feeling the darkened ground, which I was previously laying on, I discovered that I was in a forest and, judging on the position of the moon, it was around midnight. The moon itself offered a very dim light, since it was only a half moon tonight, but I didn't need sight to know that I wasn't alone._

_A twig snapped to my right and I whipped my head quickly in the direction the sound had come from. Getting ready for an enemies attack, I reached to my right leg for a kunai. Nothing. My kunai holster had been removed from my leg while I was out. Since my kunai were gone, I tried to get a shuriken from my hip pouch, but soon found that that was too, gone from my reach. Even the knives, which I had precariously placed in random locations around my new ANBU uniform during the wait for the animal exam, were gone. That included the ones I had hidden in my belt, boots and the white, second-layer-ANBU-vest were gone. Now I was pissed._

"_There's no point in trying to get a weapon." A voice from my left stated nonchalantly._

"_Who are you?! What do you want?!" I questioned, not worried about my lack of weapons, and fully prepared to black-vine-whip my kidnapper's ass. I attempted to flex my fingers first and, after discovering that they still worked properly, I tested the rest of my movements subtly. This told me that I wasn't, in any way, shape or form, paralyzed._

"_I mean you no harm little blossom." The man, as it sounded like a man, told me. His voice, however, only fuelled my need for escape. _**'AND REVENGE! SHANNARO!'**

_I felt a hand place itself gently on my right cheek and froze. The hand felt… not human. It was more of a woody texture and… the joints moved like they had been nailed._

"_S-Sasori?!" I confirmed to myself, while voicing my thoughts at the same time._

"_Not just him Saku-chan, yeah!" Another voice, this one happier and more hyperactive, told me._

"_D-Deidara!"_

"_Haha! Don't forget about us!" A gruffer voice called out from, no too far, behind me and Sasori._

"_Hn." Said the second member of the 'us' the other man had mentioned._

"_K-Kisame! Ita-Itachi!" I asked/stated, completely and utterly confused by their actions of kidnapping me. "What do you want?! Why did you kidnap me?!"_

"_We didn't." Itachi stated._

"_What are you talking about?" I asked. "Where am I?"_

"_In a dream Saku-chan, yeah." Deidara told me._

"_In… a… dream?"_

"_Yep. And now you have to face reality and kick that kidnapper's ass!" Kisame told me, my inner fully supporting the idea while little Saku-chan just wanted to kill something… or someone…_

_**End Dream**_

I gently let my eyes flutter open and took in the surroundings of the 'camp' I had been captured in. The light of the fire was providing a torch of sorts for the night guard and allowing my eyes to wander. There were four tents, all surrounding the fire, and two guards. The sounds of men inside the tents caused my eyes to widen. _'Oh god.'_ **'What?'**_ 'If it was just one person, then I could easily take them down, but…'__** 'There's too many of them.'**_** 'Really?'** _'Um…NO! They think that I will go down that easily and __**not**__ put up a fight?! Not going to happen!'__** 'Hell yes!' **_**'SHANNARO!'**

Grinning to myself, I tried to sit up and look further around my place of capture. This plan went down the tubes though, for, as soon as I attempted to push myself off of the ground, I discovered that I was tied at the wrists with chakra absorbing rope. _'Damn.'_

"Oi! She's awake!" One of the guards called out to the residents of the tents. I turned to the guard and noticed that he was, in no way, good looking. He was tall and frighteningly thin, with buck teeth and googly brown eyes. His black hair was full of grease and lice and I mentally wondered if the other men looked anything like him.

"Hello there, girly." Greeted another man as he walked out of his tent and over to my location, now sat up cross-legged, in the dirt. He was better-looking than the other man, not that _that_ was too difficult, but not as godly as some of the boys in Konoha or the Akatsuki. He had short blonde hair and swampy green eyes. He was over-muscled and quite intimidating. In fact, if I hadn't have spent the majority of the past four years with some of the most dangerous criminals of the ninja world I would have been really scared.

He reached down to touch my cheek, but I flinched away and snarled at him. This caused a round of laughter among the other men, but all was silent when the final tent, the only one no one had come out of, opened and a man with brown hair and cerulean blue eyes stepped out.

"I'd be careful around her if I were you. She killed an entire ANBU squad when she was six, all by herself. Imagine what she could do to you now." The man told them, making the others back off, but the muscle-head stayed put.

"This little cutie wouldn't hurt me!" He boasted, tapping me roughly on the cheek with his grimy hand to prove his point. _**'May I?'**__ 'Go for it.'_ **'Kill him little Saku-chan! Shannaro!'**

Little Saku-chan took over for a second and debated what to do. In the end she settled for biting him, hard enough to draw blood, and descended back into my mind. Since she was the one who liked blood, not me, I had to spit the vile red substance from my mouth. It remained around my lips but that only made my scowl all the more affective.

"You little bitch!" He yelled and hit me across the face with his un-bitten hand. My head snapped to the side upon impact, but I remained sitting, and I prepared for another blow, but the only thing I felt was a gentle hand on my head. I looked up the arm of my saviour and found the familiar face of the brunette with the captivating blue eyes. Now that I looked closer I could tell two things. One, he was the man from the waiting room, Sai, and two, he wasn't as old as I had made him out to be. His age stretched to around the same age as Deidara, twenty three, down to my own age, twenty.

"Go back to your tents, I'll deal with her." He commanded. All of the men did as they were told and the only ones left outside were me, him and the two guards. "Now why would you do something like that?" He mumbled, mostly to himself, and I snorted. He chuckled and knelt down to my level.

"Who are you?" He asked me softly. He smirked at me and I sent him a calculating look, wondering whether to bite him or humour him. I settled for the latter and sucked in a breath.

"Haruno Sakura." I told him. He grinned this time, in somewhat of a Naruto fashion, and I just continued to stare.

"Se, now we're getting somewhere. I was worried that you might actually bite me for a second." He informed me.

"…" I said nothing and didn't tell him of my previous plan to do exactly what he was afraid of. He noticed my silence and chuckled nervously.

"Well, okay then. My name is Neboutoshi Sai." He introduced himself. I snorted again, but then thought back to the owl walking out of the testing room.

"Are you… um… the… Owl?" I asked, refusing to say 'My handsome owl' encase he wasn't. He laughed and I gave him a questioning look, soon followed by a glare for laughing at me.

"Don't you mean your _handsome_ owl?" He asked, still laughing. I gasped and just stared at him for a minuet. _'He can't be the same guy!'_ **'Cha! He's too young!'**_** 'But he does look like my owl…'**_

"How do you…" I trailed off, thinking of the proper words to use in asking my question. He seemed to know what I was going to say anyway and raised his hand to stop me.

"My father. He was the mist ANBU that you saved from your wrath." He stated, saying the last bit with a small chuckle.

"Father?" I asked, suddenly feeling embarrassed at the fact that the man I had remembered, and have dreamed of, since I met him was a father. "I guess I can see the resemblance." I told him. He nodded and his face, if possible, became serious in an instant of his former laughter.

"He sent me here to become an ANBU and find you. The plan kind of cut in half when I found you at the animal exams. All I had to do then was knock you out, bring you here and ask you the question." He explained.

'_The question?'_ **'Cha! He fell in love with me at first sight and now he wants to marry me! Shannaro! True love conquers all!'**_** 'Unlikely to be that, baka.'**_

"Will you join the rebels in the war?" He asked in all seriousness. I couldn't help it this time. I exploded and me, inner and little Saku-chan all yelled at him at the same time.

"_**WHY IS EVERYTHING ABOUT A WAR?! WHY DO I HAVE TO BE THE ONE EVERYONE WANTS IN THEIR ARMY?! I'M A PERSON TOO YOU KNOW! I HATE THE WAR! I WANT NO PART IN IT AND I'M **__**CERTINATLY**__** NOT GOING TO JOIN **__**YOU**__**!!"**_ I yelled, loosing my breath in the process.

"Well, that was interesting. My father did warn me about your possible temper tantrums, but I didn't think that you would scream at me." He stated, amazed by my outburst. "Sorry Sakura, but you can't leave here. Either you join us and I untie you, or you stay there and we can use you as a ransom for Konoha and the Akatsuki. They'll probably surrender if we threaten your life."

Sai got up and left. His choice of words made my think. "…w_e can use you as a ransom..."_ After all this time, after all of my training and hard work… I was still just the weak little girl you could use to make your own plans work. I was just a ransom. A disposable tool. I cringed at my own thoughts and stared at the trees, to awake from the sting of my cheek to let my eyelids drop for more than a blinking second.

Konoha probably weren't even worried by my disappearance. They must think that I'm on the run again. _'On the run…'__** 'It seems that we're not as strong as we thought…'**_** 'What do you mean?'** _'We're always on the run. Always trying to get away from something. I can't name one time where I didn't run when the going got tough.'_ **'Hehe. You know what they say. When the going gets tough, the tough get going!'** _'That saying means that the tough go into action not run away.'__** 'Hey, I've got another saying for you!'**_** 'What is it?' **_**'Roses are red, violets are blue. I don't think that anyone's dumber that you!'**_ **'Mean!'**

I sensed a presence behind me, but was unable to turn to see who it was. I simply presumed that it was Sai, back to bug me again about joining the 'rebels', but my mind was changed when I felt a sharp pain in my back. A kunai had been plunged into my skin, deep enough to hurt like _hell_, but shallow enough that it wouldn't leave a scar.

"I wouldn't want to scar that pretty skin of yours. Not that you don't have scars already from your job." Said the voice of the over-muscled man who had hit me earlier. I tensed visibly and immediately regretted biting him. His kunai ran along the skin of my back and in between my shoulder blades, trailing a cut with its movements.

He walked in front of me and smirked at the pained expression on my face. He held up the kunai again and hit me across the face with the hilt, knocking me onto the ground. I struggled for breath as he picked me up and placed me on my feet, only to hit me down again. He kicked me in the stomach, forcing me to spit out blood, and walked off, but not before warning me of something.

"Sai can't be around to protect you all the time girly. As soon as he leaves, you're in for hell." He hissed.

My eyes felt heavy and I drifted, once again, into the ever-present darkness which seemed to wait for me around every corner of my life.


	37. Chapter Thirty Six

Chapter Thirty Six

The darkness around me disappeared as I entered the world of the living once more. My jaw was throbbing in pain and my back was burning. I ached all over and, to top it all off, I was still tied up on the ground. The muscle-headed goon's footsteps were imprinted in my mind as the 'heavy and clumsy' ones, while Sai stepped a bit lighter on his feet.

Tiredness was still consuming me, but I knew better than to sleep when I'm around people who could hurt me. That was a lesson I had learnt on one of my first team seven missions. I didn't sleep well enough on the day we were supposed to escort that bridge builder to mist, and I paid for my unawareness in blood and injury. That was the last time I let myself fall into waking sleep.

'_I need to get out of here…' __**'We need chakra…' **_**'We need a miracle.'** For the millionth time since I first woke up here, I felt helpless and alone. The man who wanted revenge on me for biting was going to come back, maybe not soon, but he was still coming back to hurt me again. Sai wouldn't be letting me go any time soon, he still needs his _ransom_ for the war. The other men were now too scared to come near me and, the one time I needed help more than anything else, Konoha, Suna and the Akatsuki think that I have run away. My life sucks.

_Neji's PoV__ (Before Sakura got knocked out)_

I had been waiting for Sakura for around eight hours and it was beginning to irritate me as to how long one _pointless_ exam took. She would probably end up being the cat or the dog or something. Why couldn't she just pick her own mask? I took the exam and it didn't take this long. This was getting ridiculous.

The woman who made me wait outside told me that Sakura would only be an hour or two; this was defiantly longer than she had told me. Deciding that I cared more about the pink-haired ANBU's safety than avoiding getting my ass kicked out of the building, I walked to the doors and pushed them open with little force. The sectary looked over at me and glared, pushing the security button under her desk.

"Where is she?" I demanded.

"Who?" The woman countered, genuinely confused by my query.

"Sakura. The girl with the pink hair and the gem in the centre of her ANBU tattoo." I elaborated.

"She left… six hours ago…" The brunette explained slowly. All of my rage died and I was trapped in a state of shock. _'She left?'_

"Oh…" I replied, snapping out of my trance and leaving slowly.

Once outside my anger lit up again. _'She left us… She ran away again!'_ I should have trusted my original instincts and gone into the exam with her, it would have turned out differently if she had tried to run while I was their. She would still be in the village, the village jail, but the village none the less.

Rage overtook my better judgement and instead of searching for something that would have told me that she didn't run, or she defiantly did, I went to go and see the Hokage to tell her of the recent events concerning her old apprentice and her habit of betraying the ones who trust and care about her.

I was about to jump onto a near by rooftop so I could get to the tower faster, but a scrap of paper caught my eye. Upon closer inspection, I found it was a note, written by someone I believed to know, but apparently I didn't know them well enough. The words didn't calm me; they actually had the opposite effect. However, I was no longer angry at Sakura; I was pissed at someone else.

On my way to the Hokage's office, my mind was plagued with questions. Why did he kidnap her? When did it happen? Who told him to? What does he need her for? Where was she taken? How did they manage to take her right in under by nose? I was a pathetic excuse for an ANBU captain if I couldn't even prevent one kidnapping.

"Hokage-sama!" I called as I entered the office of the super-strong medic-Hokage.

"Neji-san, I told you to call me Tsunade! Hokage makes me sound o-" She stopped when she caught sight of my face. They other people in the room, the ten members of the Konoha twelve, the sand siblings, Shinrin and…_Sai_.

"YOU BASTARD!" I yelled as I punched Sai in the face. He reeled back and fell on the floor, looking at me with wide, questioning eyes. "WHERE DID YOU TAKE HER?!" I demanded of the artist-nin.

"Who?" He asked, still puzzled about why I hit him. I dropped the note and Sasuke caught sight of it. He picked it up and read it to himself, before dropping it and getting as pissed with the artist as I was.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" Sasuke yelled at him, earning strange looks from everyone in the room. It wasn't every day that the two most calm and cold shinobi in Konoha yell at someone in blind rage. Sasuke and I were about to lunge at Sai and beat him to within and inch of his life, but we were held back. Naruto had taken hold of one of Sasuke's arms, with Shinrin on the other, and Lee and Shino were holding me.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Tsunade yelled. Sasuke and I calmed enough to be let go, but still wanted to kill the artist before he could speak in his defence.

"This should explain it." Sasuke told our superior, handing her the note. She scanned it quickly with her eyes and became as angry as both the Uchiha and I were a moment ago. She was about to punch Sai out of the country, but Hinata spoke up before she got the chance.

"W-Wait a minuet!" She started, louder than usual. "Sa-Sai-san couldn't h-have taken her. He w-was in here w-with us the w-whole time." The bolder heiress informed us.

My own mind didn't know of this, but Sasuke and Tsunade were in here with them. It only showed their worry for the girl that they forgot about him being with them and accused him of the crime.

"Tsunade-sama, what does the note say?" Tenten asked, wondering what words were bad enough to make two cold prodigies and a calm and collected Hokage attack one ninja in rage.

"It says;

_To the people of Konoha,_

_We have captured your cherry blossom konoichi and do not plan on returning her to you. My superiors have a use for her and told me to capture her in any way possible. Our leader has had his eye on her for a while now and, if she doesn't join our army and fight against you, we will kill her._

_I hope you understand why we must go to such measures as to kidnap little Sakura, but it will all be made clear in due time. I strongly suggest that you surrender to us, or get the Akatsuki or sound to attack us for you, since they don't have bonds with the girl. Then again, the Akatsuki might not be as willing to sacrifice her in the chances of winning the war. More than one of their members is said to love her, just as some of your Konoha and Suna shinobi do. Too bad._

_I do trust that this news will not be taken to heart. We don't really have anything against you or Haruno Sakura, we just need her. Hopefully you will concerned in this battle and let us win._

_Have a nice day._

_Sai_

By the end of the note, the konoichi in the room were either crying or on the verge of tears and the rest of the shinobi and I were more vengeful than we ever had been. This 'Sai' person was right though, many people in Konoha and Suna loved Sakura. Whether it was a brotherly love, like Shino, Naruto and Shikamaru had for her, or something more, like Sasuke and I, everyone loved her.

"Why would you think that I would kidnap or harmRyoushi in any way?" He question, using his nickname for the assassin.

"Sai, they were just worried about Saku-chan, don't take it personally." Temari told him. He nodded and everyone became silent, wondering where the cherry blossom of Konoha was taken.

_Sakura's PoV_

The sun had raised high in the sky, most likely meaning that it was mid-day. It was too hot, but not too cold either. If it wasn't for the ropes, rebels, lack of chakra, pain and sense of being in great danger, this would have made a great vacation. I rolled my eyes at my own sense of sarcasm, still lingering despite my current position. I heard someone approaching me and got ready to yell bloody murder if that muscle-head hurt me again.

It was, in fact, the ugly guard. He walked into my line of vision and sat me up. He seemed to check me over for serious wounds and noticed the one on my back. His thin eyebrows furrowed together and his mouth curled down in a frown. Apparently, this man wasn't happy, at all, by his comrade's treatment of me.

"Are you hurt anywhere other than your back?" He asked. I simply observed him and, being the proud girl I was, shook my head. It was a lie, since my stomach, jaw and cheek were throbbing as well. He seemed to pick up on my lie and gently prodded me in the stomach.

I whimpered quietly in pain and the ugly man sighed. He then cupped his hand under my chin and moved my face from side to side slowly, observing my injuries, which I guessed had bruised. His buck teeth clenched in anger as he continued to scan me, my own eyes watching him with predatory ease.

"Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you." He said, trying to comfort me in a way.

"Why would you think that I'm worried?" I questioned suspiciously.

"You're watching me like an owl watches its next meal. Either you're worried about your safety, or you have a thing for me. I seriously doubt it's the latter." He finished in a chuckle. I couldn't help but to smile a little, he was nice and actually fun to talk with, even if he's the one doing most of the talking.

"What are you doing here anyway?" I wondered. He looked at me briefly and smiled.

"No matter what type of person they are, killer, assassin or simple villager, no woman should be kidnapped and beaten. I'm Junseishin. I no last name though, since I'm an orphan from birth." He told me with a small grin. _'Junseishin, pure heart.'_

"I'm Haruno Sakura." I introduced.

"Ah, the Haruno clan. I though you looked familiar." He mused. "From the mist, right?"

"Yes…"

"You probably don't remember me." Junseishin informed with a sad smile. "We never met, after all. I just saw you around."

"You did?" I asked, confused at the realisation of me not remembering his appearance.

"Well, when you walked to the academy, I used to sit by the fence of the orphanage and watch you. The others made fun of me, saying that I stood no chance with you. I guess that they were right."

"Oh…" I said, feeling slightly weirded-out by his confession of watching me walk to school.

"If I untie these ropes, will you run?" He enquired. I thought about it for a moment, but was hit by the truth. I had no chakra, no idea where I was and I was tired. They would just catch me and than muscle-head will beat me again. I shook my head.

The ropes fell off me when he undid the knots, but left my feet bound. I began to wonder why he chose to untie me, but it was made clear when I felt his chakra warming me, healing me. The sting of my back subsided slightly, enough for me to call it a scratch pain and he moved to my stomach. Once the bruise on my abdomen was no longer painful he worked on my face and, before I knew what was happening, I felt next to no pain.

"I'm not a very good medic, so I can only lessen the pain. All of the marks are still there and you might feel a bit stiff for a while." He explained. I smiled.

"Thanks Junseishin." I said, grateful for his effort in healing me.

"Don't thank me, I have to tie you back up now, or everyone will get suspicious. It's bad enough that I'm talking to you." He told me as he rushed to tie the roped back around me, a bit looser than last time but still able to stop me from escaping.

After he gave me some water, my new and only friend here left. It didn't take too long before I heard another person approaching me. This time, the sound of the feet wasn't a small, rat-like scurry across the dead leave, which covered the ground. It was loud, heavy and clumsy as hell.

"Looks like you made a new friend." A voice cooed into my ear. I shuddered at the closeness of the brute and closed my eyes tightly as he began to trace the cut on my back.

"What do you want?" I snapped harshly.

"Now, now, no need to bite my head off. This bite on my hand will suffice. I just want to know your name little one." He whispered roughly.

"It's rude to ask for a name without providing your own first." I retorted. He chuckled and ran a finger across the bruise on my cheek.

"Me? I'm Koudo oite Oozora. Your turn."

**'Koudo oite Oozora? That means that he's heaven on earth! No way!'**

"Haruno Sakura." I told him. He chuckled again and lifted me off the ground.

Tears came to my eyes as he cut into my arm. This time, the cut was deep and would defiantly scar. After that was done, he moved his kunai to my stomach and ran it from my left hip to my right. The last thing he Oozora did with his weapon was trace the old wound on my back, so it would scar, and place two more lines with it, one vertical and one horizontal.

The next thing I could feel was his rough hand around my small neck, stopping my breath and killing me slowly. His thumb rubbed the side of my neck gently and I began to see black spots clouding my vision.

"Goodnight Sakura-_chan_." Were his last words.

However, he never got the chance to finish me off. I was dropped to the ground and his body fell a few feet from my own. I still couldn't see properly and I was slowly loosing conciousness. My breath was soon returned though, and the feeling of someone else's lips on mine, giving me the air my own lungs could receive on their own. I began breathing again and the person who saved me sighed in relief.

"Thank god." I heard him say. "Junseishin, carry her to the medical tent and have my Kaa-san take a look at her. Don't let Oozora get near her again."

"Hai, Sai-sama." Another man, who I knew to be Junseishin, replied.

'_Sai…'_

My thoughts carried my into a dreamless sleep as I was carried away from the man who sought to kill me.


	38. Chapter Thirty Seven

Chapter Thirty Seven

When I woke up the first thing to invade my senses was the smell of dried blood and the stinging pain surging though out my entire body. I tried to get up, only to remain on the floor. The ropes holding my arms by my sides were gone, just as the ones on my feet, but I still couldn't move. It seemed as if the only reason for the removal of my binds was to heal my wounds, since I seemed to be inside a tent rather than outside.

"So, you are awake?" Asked a loud, boastful voice from behind me, I was lying on my back on a sleeping mat. The person who spoke walked into my line of vision and I took in their appearance.

It was a woman, around her late thirties to mid-forties, with dark blonde hair and warm brown eyes. She seemed to smile a lot, obvious from the wrinkles in the corners of her eyes, and looked beautiful for her age. Tsunade would have been jealous of her natural beauty, while the woman Hokage had to use age-replenishing jutsu to look younger than she is.

Her clothing was a simple, but beautiful, kimono, which has a pattern of cranes, bamboo and flowers. The pattern is only visible on the front. The back was solid black, except for the three white Mon, the crest of the clan she belonged to, along the shoulders. The obi of the kimono was light grey with white snowflakes patterned onto it and the obijime (cord to hold the obi) was sky blue. Her zori (sandals) were wooden with blue leather straps to match the colour of the obijime on the beautiful item of clothing. The colours of the kimono suggested that she was married and around middle-age, as I had guessed. The kimono she wore was called an **Irotomesode, and only married women wore them. She wore her hair in a simple bun with pearls intertwined with her honey locks.**

"How are you feeling, child?" She asked me in a soft voice. It lulled me into a state of comfort and safety, so I had no resolve when answering the motherly woman.

"I feel terrible, like I was trampled by wild bears with kunai attached to their feet." I exaggerated. It was true though, I did feel roughly that terrible.

"Don't worry; you have a surprisingly fast healing time. I had to convince my son to untie you though, to let you heal faster." She explained with a light laugh.

"Son?" I questioned.

"Sai. He is my youngest son. My eldest, Sotsu, is twenty three, only two years older than Sai. Oh! How rude of me! I never told you _my_ name. I'm Neboutoshi Karei. My husband is Neboutoshi Fukurou. What is your name?" Karei asked, telling me her family history in a sense. _'Well, someone's talkative.'_

"Haruno Sakura." I told her.

"Ah, cherry blossom of the spring! Such a beautiful name!" She exclaimed.

"Well, you're the one whose name means 'beauty', not me." I reminded her.

"True, true. Tell you what, why don't you get changed and I'll introduce you to some of the other women here. You'll find that you're the youngest, apart from the children of course." She informed me.

She re-entered the tent with a downcast expression etched across her gentle face. Two other women trailed in behind her, carrying towels, bandages, soaps and other things. My eyes turned purple when I saw that a man entered with them. He was tall, with sandy blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes, and his Hatei-ate was tied around his left bicep. I looked at it closely, since I hadn't really noticed these on the other men, I was to busy being tied up and beaten.

They had a symbol of their own. It was two circles, linked together in a chain-like way. Oddly, none of the three women in here wore one, so I presumed that they were just medics, not ninja in any way. It was slightly off-putting to have a man in here when the two, so far unknown, women were preparing a bath for me. He seemed to notice my discomfort and looked down at me.

"I'll wait outside to give you ladies some privacy." He stated. I smiled at him slightly, him returning it with a smirk, and he left.

"Sakura, do you need any help?" Karei asked me.

"No thanks." I replied as I tried to get up. Tried, and failed miserable. Apparently, I was still weak from my injuries and couldn't move properly on my own. I may have mentioned before how much my life sucked, now it doesn't suck any more. No, now my life is _worse_ than suck-ish, it's is officially…um…

'_**Terrible?'**__'No…'_ **'Horrible?' **_'No… OH! Now I remember!'__** '…' **_**'…well?'** _'Stupukish!'_ **'…What?' **_**'I agree with the baka for once! You just made no sense at all!'**_ _'Well, Stu, for stupid, and ukish, for sickish! It's a shorter way of saying my life is stupidly suckish!'_ **'O-kay!' **_**'Riiiiiight'**_

"I believe that you _do_ need some help Sakura-chan."

"…Possibly…" I said, refusing to admit needing assistance. One of the new women helped me up while the other undressed my wounds, which where covered in bandages. When that was done I was standing bare-chested and they finished undressing me, before setting me into a warm tub of water. The heat and cleansing purpose of the bath were enough to calm me and I instantly relaxed.

The women washed my hair and wounds, but never anywhere I would consider private. I did those areas myself. When the bathing was done I was lifted from the water and wrapped in a fluffy white towel to dry off. The women bowed and left the tent, telling the man outside that he still couldn't go in.

"Sakura, we have clothes here for you, but you might find that they're a bit loose on you. They do, after all, belong to my sons." Karei explained to me as she laid a few items of clothing on the sleeping mat. There were six tops and two pairs of trousers. In the end I chose a loose white shirt and some brown trousers, with black shinobi boots.

I couldn't however put on the top until my wounds had been dressed again. I simply wonder why I could heal myself, but found the answer in the form of a small, silver bracelet, designed to block my chakra. I was fully bandaged with 'my' trousers on, when the flap of the tent opened and someone stepped inside.

"Hello mother, Sakur-…what are you wearing?" Sai questioned as he eyed my appearance. At first, I didn't realise what the big deal way, but soon turned red in the face when I remembered that the only thing I had to cover my chest was some bandages. I grabbed the top from the floor and pulled it over my head, quickly.

"You saw nothing…" I said, in the same way someone would if they had been caught committing murder. Ironically, I had once. I also said the same thing afterwards.

"Even if I wanted to, I didn't." He replied, not thinking about the underlining insult that traced his words.

"What do you mean 'if' you wanted to?!" I demanded, scorching anyone who heard with the tone of my voice.

"I mean that I don't want to see you!" He told me in the same way.

"Why, Is there something wrong with me?!"

"No! I mean yes! Wait- I'm confused! Why are we arguing about this?!"

"I'm bored and this was the only thing I could think of that would entertain me at the moment." I answered, completely serious with my words. He looked at me oddly, myself raising an eyebrow in response, and he turned to Karei.

"How is she Kaa-san?" Sai asked the older woman, previously identified as his mother.

"She's finding it hard to move on her own." The mother of two told him.

"Will she be able to walk around the camp?"

"She will need a few hours rest before being able to walk around, and even then she will need support, or a cane maybe…"

"When will she-?"

"_She_ had a name and _she_ is standing right here!" I reminded to two. Sai stared at me for a few moments, making me feel slightly uncomfortable, and grunted.

"What am I supposed to do with you then _Sakura_?" He enquired, stretching out my name mockingly.

"You have three options." I informed him.

"Oh, do tell." He remarked sarcastically.

"One, you can let me go." I said hopefully.

"Not going to happen."

"Two, you can fight me. I win, I go. You win, I go!"

"How about, I win and you have to fight for the rebels?" He suggested.

"Hmm. Maybe I should just move onto option three." I wondered.

"Good idea." More sarcasm!

"Three, confess your love for me!" I stared. Sai seemed to pause for a moment, and he told his mother to go back to their home and cook diner for him and the others in his family. I was beginning to think that he was actually going to confess something.

"Okay then _Sakura_, I'll confess." He said, taking a step towards me. "I love… chicken. I also think that you're nuts to think I would love you!"

"Grrrr, JERK!" I yelled. Sai simple smirked and left, ordering the guard to follow him as he went.

I was now completely alone and vulnerable to anyone who decided to walk into the tent and end my live for good. I have many ideas of _how_ someone would do that, but only one about _whom_. Oozora. He had tried one before and I doubt that he would hesitate to try again. My eyelids drooped a bit and I fell into a semi-conscious stare, somewhere between sleep and awake.

"_I'm here. I won't let anyone hurt you."_

Words spoken so long ago, yet they felt like he was saying them all over again. He wasn't. I knew that he wasn't. The man who told me those words wasn't here. He was gone. I didn't know where, and I didn't know if he was even _alive_. I did, however, know that he would always protect me.

"Nii-san…" I mumbled as I fell into a deep slumber.


	39. Chapter Thirty Eight

Chapter Thirty Eight

Itachi couldn't sleep at all since Sakura had left. Kisame wouldn't eat, Deidara stayed in his room, the children were placed in the mist base with Tobi now, and Sasori couldn't complete a decent puppet. They were a wreck without the Akatsuki princess to yell at them and straighten them out.

The four men wished, more than ever, that they didn't do as the leader asked, for once, and hold the Haruno children as hostages to be sure that Sakura would fight with them in the war. All that did was succeed in giving her a reason to leave. The pink-haired konoichi might have stayed and fought with them anyway, they didn't need to threaten her with her new brothers and sister.

The blue shark-man mourned over the loss of trust he had with the blue-eyed twin, Ryiko, which he had built up over training and mindless-man talk. He learned much about the boy and he became like his younger brother. It was so different to walk around the base and not hear the distinct yell of the middle/twin Haruno, calling him for extra training or a lesson in water-based jutsu.

Deidara had a similar feeling of loss about the other twin, Tyiko. They had grown close and adopted the same relationship that Kisame had with Ryiko and Sakura with all of her siblings. The demand for training with explosives and creating simple, beginner bombs was more of a pain before, but the blonde now realised that he missed it more than he hated it.

Sasori and Karene never did finish the joint project they started and the partly made puppet now lay in the corner of the wooden-man's room, forgotten. It was only a way of remembering the oldest child and that kind of memory was the most unwanted thing to him now. After his konoichi friend had brought him here, they had also become a close bond of brothers, and were never seen without wood shavings from new or old puppets, which they were starting or finishing together.

As for Itachi, he had only gathered a small fraction of Terrane's trust and never had the chance to get close enough to call her anything like a sister, or even a close friend. However, the Sharingan user wished that he had gotten to know her as the other members of the base had with their child-room-mates. The small amount of knowledge he had of her only proved what Sakura had said to him after he learned of the three of them sharing a room.

"_You two share many interests! I think you could be friends if you tried!"_

How he wished he had taken that opportunity. Not that he needed to actually miss Terrane that much. The amount of regret he felt for forcing Sakura's miss-trust and departure was enough to overshadow the worries and regrets of all of the aforementioned men put together. He, as much as he tried to deny it in the past, had had a great respect for her from the moment he saw her fighting the morning after they had set up camp on their way to the base. The second feeling he felt for her was uncommon, if not complete unreal, in men like Itachi. He never felt this way for any woman, or man, in his life. He had done the one thing he had told his brother never to do.

He had fallen in love with the missing-nin konoichi of the hidden leaf.

_Sakura's PoV_

"Sakura-chan!" Were the words which carried me away from my wonderful dreams, of Konoha and the Akatsuki, and back into the real world, where pain was real and life bites my in the ass every waking moment, hard.

"WHAT!?" I screamed, the pain in my chest making me wince slightly and lay back down on my sleeping mat. "What?" I repeated, more calmly than the first time. Karei, who was the woman who woke me up, was apparently startled by my first outburst, but returned to her smiling self after I calmed.

"How are you feeling, dear?" She asked kindly. I observed her outfit and concluded that it was another Irotomesode; only the pattern was of dark purple petals, not the same as the other kimono. Her hair was the same as before, a simple bun with white pearls.

"Better, much better!" I declared as I got up and began to stretch my tired muscles. "How long have I been sleeping for?"

"Oh, about… two, three tops." She said, not clearly elaborating what she meant by those words.

"Um, hours?"

"No…days." The kind woman declared. I was in a state of shock, but quickly recovered. That would, of course, explain my 'quick' recovery from the wounds inflicted on me previously.

"Am I going to be stuck here until after the war?" I asked.

"No, of course not! My husband and sons agreed that you could leave the tent and meet the rest of the people living with the rebels today, if you woke up. Why don't we get you dressed first, hmm?" She suggested. After those words were spoken Karei seemed to get an idea and told me to wait, which I did.

She came back in with another woman around the same age, also wearing a kimono, with black hair and brown eyes. The new woman's kimono was dark grey with a black rose pattern around the hem and sleeves of the outfit and her obi was black. The obijime was silver and, because of the dark colours, it was apparent that she was also married, since this too was an **Irotomesode with five Mon on it**. Her hair was styled in the same way, except she had no pearls. The two were carrying another kimono, this one far brighter in colour than theirs, and I got the idea that it was for me.

"Um…" I said, looking from the gorges, but _way_ to bright, garment and back to the women, Karei grinning at the expression on my face. "That's…for me, isn't it?" I asked, already knowing the answer. The women nodded and walked towards me as I sighed and stayed put, against my better judgement.

"This is my friend, Chinsei Suisen. Suisen-chan, this is Haruno Sakura, the girl my husband's mist ANBU team were killed by." Karei introduced us cheerfully. The woman, Suisen, bowed her head slightly and I copied her action. It was obvious, from their clothing and lack of chakra signature, that these women were not fighters, just village, or in this case 'camp', girls. They are the type who stay home and wait for their husbands, boyfriends, brothers, etc. to come home and protect them.

"I don't think that a kimono is your style, but it's all we have for a woman, and your clothing is torn in the back and around the front too." Suisen commented, rightfully so about my style of clothing and preferences of shorts over a kimono. The clothes these women wore were beautiful and breath-taking to look at, but, for me, they weren't the most practical thing to wear. I had worn them many times, for missions and such, when the time called for it. I hadn't however, worn them around people I know. If the Akatsuki or the Konoha/Suna boys saw me in one, they would probably laugh.

I stayed still, turning when asked to, as they helped me into the stunning outfit. The first thing they did was leave, after telling me to strip down to my underwear and put a plain white susoyoke (A thin petticoat-like garment worn under the nagajuban) on. I finished the task quickly and called them back. They re-entered and put a nagajuban (This is another kimono, usually shorter than the outer one, worn as underwear) on over the susoyoke. The nagajuban was orange with light yellow diamonds printed onto it. Naruto would have loved this garment, but never, ever see it…I hope. After that was done, they pulled some tabi(ankle-high, divided-toe socks usually worn with zori)over my feet. Then it was time to put on the kimono. The beauty of the kimono was startling to me, but the most outrageous thing, by far, was the fact they expected me to _wear_ it.

It was a bright, honey yellow colour with orange flowers coming up from the hem on bright green vines, travelling up to just below the area the obi would go, and a light orange coloured fabric for the eri (collar). The sleeves were too decorated by orange flowers, but these weren't on vines and had the look of being blown in the wind. They placed a datejime (A thin, but stiff sash worn under the obi to keep its shape) on in the section of the kimono the obi was to go, before securing that too. The obi was a light orange colour with soft blue petals sewn on to look as if they were blowing across the fabric, in the same style as the sleeves, with a gold coloured obijime. The final thing they dressed me in was a pair of red-strapped zori and I was dressed fully.

My hair was styled into an elegant, but simple, bun and a Turquoise-Cherry-Blossom was placed in my pink locks as decoration. They finished the look with some light make up, light pink lip gloss and some white eye shadow, and I was ready to explore the camp with them.

Outside looked different from last time I saw it. For example, there were wooden huts rather than tents, and a lot of huts at that. Some of the huts were small and others were bigger, but they never got too big. It seemed as if this rebel 'army' wasn't an army at all. It was a group of people who got caught up in the war and built up a force of fighters to protect them. These fighters wanted to fight, and win, in the war, so they needed as many skilled fighters as possible. You don't get more skilled in assassination technique than the number one assassin for over seven years, almost eight.

I looked around and saw that there were four tented areas surrounding the camp and one tent, the medical on I was in, in the centre of the huts. The tent camp I was at was clearly marked by the dried blood in the centre of it and I scowled, mentally noting to kill that muscle-head later. I followed Suisen and Karei though the series of huts and we ended part of our tour at a larger hut with 'school' written across the door. Karei opened the wooden barrier and I peered inside, my eyes softening at the sight of all the children reading and writing at their desks.

"Hello Yoroshii-kun!" Karei shouted from in front of me. The teacher at the front of the class turned and smiled at her.

"Hello Karei-chan, Suisen-chan. Who might your new friend be?" He asked, obviously referring to me. I decided that, since I was going to be kept here anyway, I would try to get along with as many people as possible.

"I might be Haruno Sakura." I replied, smirking at him. He was handsome; I'll give him that, but not really my type. I don't usually date people I've only just met and plan on ditching as soon as possible. His hair was raven black, and long enough to reach his shoulder, and his eyes were brown. He looked a lot like Suisen actually.

"I like her. I'm Chinsei Yoroshii, Suisen's younger brother. I'm the only teacher in our small village." He elaborated, confirming my reasons for him and my newly met friend looking alike.

"Sakura-chan is the assassin I was telling you about Yoroshii-kun! The one named 'Huntress'." Karei informed the teacher.

"Assassin, eh?" He asked with an unbelieving tone. "I thought assassins were cold, heatless and killed without a second thought."

"I am, everyone has a heart and I do kill without a second thought, or even a first for that matter." I told him sternly.

"Then, what's with the friendliness just a moment ago?" Yoroshii wondered, still confused.

"I made the same choice as many assassins do. I wear a mask. When I'm on a mission or a job, I revert to my cold, heatless self. When I'm not killing, like now, I can be free to express my emotions, to some extent." I elaborated. He accepted this answer and began to speak with his sister and Karei.

"Hey, lady." A small whisper implored me to look down. I saw a small boy, no older than five, tugging on my kimono. He had messy red hair and green eyes, reminding me of Gaara or Sasori.

"Yes?" I asked, kneeling to his level as best I could in the stiff, and restricting, garment.

"Come and have a look at my picture!" He told me, pulling my arm to his seat. His friends crowded round me and he put a drawing in my line of sight. I looked at it for a moment and knew, instantly, what it was. The drawing was of this hut, Yoroshii, Suisen, Karei and I when we were talking a moment ago. It was crude, but understandable.

"It's very good." I commented softly. The boy smiled at me and, as I was about to get up, he held my hand. My face turned to him, confusion marring into my features.

"I'm Dokuen Karuson! Who are you?" Karuson asked curiously.

"Haruno Sakura." I told him with a smile. He smiled back and the other kids began to tell me their names.

"My name is ShinkoKyohaku!" Said a girl, around eleven years old, boastfully. She seemed like a 'Tenten' type and I smiled. Her hair was long, down to the bottom of her shoulder blades, and light orange, while her eyes were brown. I suddenly heard someone cough and looked to the front of the room, where Yoroshii, Suisen and Karei were standing, grinning at me.

"Well, you seem to have a way with kids." Yoroshii commented.

"So?" I snapped back.

"Maybe we should go and see my husband now, to tell him you're awake." Karei suggested. I perked up at the idea of seeing my owl again, even if he _was_ married with two kids and the leader of the army of rebels who have kidnapped me and are forcing me to stay against my will.

We, Karei and I, approached a tall hut with a solid oak door and two curtained windows on each wall. Karei knocked once and we entered to room.


	40. Chapter Thirty Nine

**A/N; I would like to thank the following people for their reviews/support/suggestions from the start.**

**Rakero-chan**

**Tac03e11hp**

**YinYangWhiteTiger**

**KazeRose **

**StrawLate**

**sakuraharuno-cherryblossom**

**sn1ck3rD00dl3**

**pinky101**

**ElektratheAssassin0891**

**firegirl08 **

**berry smoothie**

**Gothic Saku-chan**

**Firerose1300**

**Sora Akari**

**BloodRenevant**

**Narutokage**

**tru-viet**

**Ice-Black Dragon**

**seguha**

**Fire Rogue Shinobi**

**dragongirl92**

**fantagrl64**

**SadowKitty**

**EternalDeni**

**cherryblossomsky**

**himeyuzuki**

**lil'spaz**

**cocoapuffaddict**

**999Shikaku999**

**Silent Kunoichi aka. Fiona**

**oO Yasu Yukiko Oo**

**punkrocker22**

**Grapefruit.ninja**

**cherryblossom222**

**Sblood6**

**stooopidblackkitty13**

**Vesper chan**

**Naito no Sky**

**harunosakua**

**Bee-Leaf86**

**Crimson Fang of Konoha**

**FakeCompassion**

**OblivionRose**

**SimpleeLovely673**

**ramenapalooza**

**Love ya all! Enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter Thirty Nine

"Dobe!" Sasuke called from one side of the training field to the other. Team seven were training, fighting, preparing for the upcoming war. Even Kakashi was there, and he had arrived on time too.

"What is it teme?" Naruto yelled back. The orange and ramen loving ninja had just been kicked quite a distance by Sasuke, and so the reason they have to yell across the field is plain and clear.

"Do you think that we'll find Sakura before the war?" Sasuke asked as he and Naruto charged at each other again.

"I don't know." The blonde confessed, delivering a kick to Sasuke's abdomen and sending him flying into a tree.

"What about the Akatsuki? Will they even _care_ that Sakura is gone?" The youngest Uchiha brother wondered out loud. He ran at Naruto again and they each threw a punch, which was caught by the others free hand. The boys were thrown away from one-an-other from the force of the hits and landed heavily on their backs.

"Prob…Probably…not…" Naruto answered between breaths. Now that the duet was breathing heavily, they decided to call it a tie and rest for a while.

"Nice job today boys." Kakashi congratulated his, now Jounin, team. They had become Jounin only recently, but chose to become a team of equals, rather than go their separate ways. Now they were the strongest Jounin team in Konoha, they couldn't help but wonder of Sakura would have stayed or gone her separate way of she remained here.

"Thanks…Kakashi…-sensei." The Kyuubi boy said with a grin, still trying to regain his breath.

"When do you think…the war…will become a…full on…battle?" Sasuke questioned, also trying to capture his breath but doing a better job of it than Naruto was.

"Hm? Oh, Tsunade-sama spoke to me about that three days ago actually, the day after Sakura was taken. She said that we had about two weeks before the fighting begins." Kakashi stated solemnly. The boys' faces became worried over the safety of their female ex-team mate, even though Sasuke hid his well, and Naruto sighed.

"Well, I have to go and annoy Gai. Ja ne!" Kakashi said before he erupted into a cloud of smoke and vanished to bug his rival. Naruto and Sasuke just looked at each other and shrugged. They then re-entered their previous fighting stances and prepared for another spar.

"THE YOUTHFUL PRINCESS SHALL RETURN TO HER KINGDOM AND REJOICE IN THE MARITAL BINDING OF MY LOVELY TENTEN AND MYSELF!" Yelled a voice from the fence surrounding the training ground they were in, causing both to trip in their charge at each other and fall on their faces.

"_Lee_." The hissed into the mud, finding that they were actually stuck and could get up.

"Um…why are you two kissing the dirt?" Asked a _very_ amused female voice, Tenten.

"Mee Yewed nd ey twriped nd felw ond mi fas!" The boys yelled, into the ground, together.

"What?" Asked another girl, sounding like Ino. Sasuke pulled himself violently away from the face-shaped hole he had made in the ground and gulped in air greedily, looking as if he would yell at the other people here for breathing his air.

"I said; 'Lee yelled and I tripped and fell on my face' okay?" Sasuke stated, pretty pissed off about the experience of being crushed into the ground.

"Mup amout meeeee!?" Naruto yelled, still stuck. Translation would be; 'what about me?!'

"S-Sorry N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata gasped as she pulled Naruto out of the ground, causing him to fall on top of her as they stumbled back. Naruto quickly got up and dusted himself off while mumbling an apology to the Hyuuga heiress, remembering that she was married _and_ currently pregnant.

"What were you talking about in the first place, bushy brows?" Naruto asked the beaming taijutsu expert.

"I have just asked the youthful Tenten to marry me and she youthfully accepted! I merely was stating that youth princess Sakura, my old love, would attend the wedding with her own love, proving that we both moved on from our relationship of the youthful past, ready to move on to the more youthful future!" Lee proclaimed.

"Lee-san, you and Saku-chan never had a relationship." Ino stated, holding onto Choji's hand gentle and her chocolate ice cream in the other.

"That…is true Ino-san. You have use your youthful knowledge youthfully well with your statement blonde warrior of youth!" The green beast said while he struck his good-guy pose.

"I'm a…what?" Ino enquired, her right eye twitching after his proclamation, dropping her ice cream onto the ground where Naruto and Sasuke had previously been stuck.

"A warrior of youth!" Lee repeated.

"Nooooooooooo!" The girl wailed. "I can't be a warrior of youth! I have a sense of style! I am popular! I am cool! Nooooooooooo!" She repeated to herself, crying and sobbing dramatically the whole time.

"Lee, I'd appreciate it if you didn't traumatize my girlfriend." Choji told the bowl-cut twenty-one-year-old. Lee nodded and hugged Tenten affectionately.

"Hold on! Let me get this straight! Lee proposed to Tenten and is now claiming that Ino is a warrior of youth?!" Naruto asked; making sure he understood the situation.

"Pretty much." Hinata said as she hugged Shinrin, him placing on of his hands on her pregnant stomach.

"Team seven, Hyuuga-san, team eight, team nine and team Gai the Hokage wishes to see you immediately." A Chunin announced as he appeared in a cloud of smoke and handed Tenten a scroll for all of them to read.

"Thank you." Shinrin said to the younger ninja. the Chunin bowed to them all and Poofed away.

"It's authentic, the Hokage needs us urgently." Tenten stated after reading and destroying the scroll, lest an enemy gets hold of it. The ninja present nodded and Poofed to Tsunade's office immediately, just as the Chunin had told them.

When they arrived, Sasuke knocked on the door and all of them entered. The other ninja of the Konoha twelve, plus Sai, were already in the office when they went in and got comfortable. Tsunade looked around her office and sighed loudly.

"I have some urgent news about-" She was interrupted when the door opened and the sand siblings stepped in with the senseis.

"Sorry we're late Tsunade-sama." Temari apologised for the group who just came in. the Hokage nodded and prepared to speak again.

"As I was saying, I have urgent news about the war. It seemed that, even with the combined forces of Suna and Konoha, very few ninja in the two villages is willing to fight if it endangers Sakura. There for I have been forced to bring in outside help, the kind I swore I would never require." Here, Tsunade paused and called in Shinzune.

The entrance of the dark-haired medic wasn't the most surprising thing. The entrance of the four small children after her caused the most shock to seep from the ninja in the room. Tired and bruised, were the four child-siblings that caused Sakura to come back to Konoha after their abduction.

"Terrane?" Kiba called in question. His thoughts were confirmed when the little, now eight-year-old, girl of the group looked up and her blue eyes widened after seeing him.

"K-Kiba-kun?" Terrane asked. The Inuzuka boy nodded and tears filled his eyes. "Kiba-kun!" She yelled as she ran to the brunette and hugged his legs. He hoisted her up and she clutched the fabric of his jumper, never wanting to let go. It was then that her brothers looked up and seemed to awaken from a dream as they looked around.

"Hinata!" Karene, who was now eleven, yelled as he jumped up on the Hyuuga girl, hanging off of her neck and laughing sadly, mixing his laughter with tears. Hinata smiled softly and hugged him back, but he soon let go when he noticed her stomach bulge. She smiled at him and he grabbed her hand, still sobbing slightly.

"Tenten!" Ryiko, now ten, shouted as he ran to the weapons mistress, who was his best friend in Konoha, minus his family, and cried into her stomach while hugging her around the waist. Lee watched the scene and couldn't help but think, as Tenten hugged the small boy, that she would make a great mother one day.

"Temari!" Tyiko, the same age as his twin, sobbed as he sprinted over to the fan-wielding twenty-three-year-old. Temari got questioning looks from her younger brothers, but ignored them as he picked up the grey-eyed twin and hugged him close, shushing him and whispering words of comfort to him in a soothing way.

"Tsunade-sama, Sakura-chan said that they got kidnapped! Why are they here?" Naruto wondered as he looked from one sibling to the other, then the next and then the last, before finally turning his attention to his elder, and wise, Hokage.

"They were kidnapped. Now, as I was saying before, I have been forced to bring in outside help. The Akatsuki." She finished. Four sweeping cloaks entered the room and the younger ninja settled into fighting stances, looking around at the only thing visible on the cloak-and-hat-wearing criminals, the eyes.

Black.

Brown.

Blue.

And…

Red.

_With Sakura_

_Karei knocked once and we entered the room…_

The room was only furnished with a table in the centre and eleven people sat at it in separate chairs. I looked around the hut with my cold green eyes and they landed on the man in the centre of the long table, sitting on a larger wooden chair. He had brown hair and cerulean blue eyes. Either side of him sat one boy with the same brown hair and blue eyes, Sai, and another boy sat to his right. This one had sandy blonde hair and brown eyes, like Karei, and I immediately recognised him to be the guard who was at the medical hut I was in three days ago.

"Sakura, welcome to the councils hut. Please, take a seat." The middle man, obviously the leader, said kindly. I did so and sat in one of the chairs placed before the table. Karei sat in another chair to the side of the room. The chakra bracelet on my wrist unclasped itself and dropped to the floor. I stared at it for a while, before looking back at the man in the large chair.

"Why am I here?" I asked snappily and impatiently. The leader chuckled and his blue eyes twinkled in joy.

"You are here because you turned down my son's offer of joining us. I am going to try and convince you and all that other stuff. However, I just think that it will be a waste of my breath to do so." He said truthfully. "My name is Neboutoshi Fukurou. This is my youngest son, Neboutoshi Sai and my eldest son, Neboutoshi Sotsu." He introduced, gesturing to Sai and the guard. "I believe that, even though you might not join us after this, a certain piece of news I have might be of use to you."

"What news?" I wondered suspiciously.

"News of your brother, Haruno Sosei's location."

"WHERE IS HE?!" I demanded, activating my Zoneingan in rage. It was one thing to speak of him, but another to say that you knew where he was. Many of the people in the room gasped at the murderous purple of my eyes and I glared angrily at the man who laid claim on my brother's whereabouts.

"North, near the temples of Tarento." Fukurou informed me. My eyes glazed over and I walked out of the hut, in the direction of the medical tent I woke up in. upon arrival I found Chinsei and one of the other women cleaning away bandages and aiding other people in there.

"S-Sakura?" Chinsei gasped as I tore open the curtained entrance and marched into the tent, with Karei rushing in behind me, trying to calm me down.

"Where are my clothes?" I yelled at the trembling, and still nameless, woman, who had frozen in her tracks after feeling my murderous aura. She shakily pointed to a pile of clothing in the corner of the room and I began to dig though it until I had uncovered my entire ANBU uniform, except my mask and weapons.

"Sakura-chan, please calm down. You're just upset and-"

"NO! My brother disappeared after the murder of my parents and I NEED TO FIND HIM! WHERE IS MY MASK!?" I yelled, cutting Karei off in the middle of her sentence. She was right, I was upset, but I needed to do this more so than anything else I had set out to do. I have to find my brother, then my adopted siblings. That was all that mattered to me now. I couldn't care less about the war if I tried.

The woman handed me the ceramic imitation of the face of a snake and I snatched it away from her, glaring into her very soul with my Zoneingan. She fled the tent and I tied the mask in place. Once it was secure I hurried behind a screen and changed into my ANBU uniform.

"My weapons." I demanded, from anyone in the room, when I emerged, fully dressed in my newly chakra-repaired uniform with my hair tied into a high, tight braid on top of my head. Chinsei handed my every weapon taken from me when I was knocked out, there where a lot now that I looked at them, and I fastened them in various spots around my body, becoming the assassin 'Huntress' again, but in ANBU uniform instead of Akatsuki this time.

"Sakura-chan, please-" Karei started. She was cut off again when I took hold of her throat and began to tighten my hand.

"Where is this camp, exactly?" I asked her. She gasped for breath and began to claw at my hand, all the time Chinsei was beginning to cry from the scene displayed in front of her.

"I…don't…k-know." She said in struggling breaths. I tightened my hand again and looked at the only other person in the room, besides me, Chinsei and my hostage, Karei. He seemed shocked that I would actually notice him amidst all of the chaos I have just caused and gulped loudly.

"You." I said to him. "Where is this camp?" He gulped again.

"I-It's a-about one hundred and s-sixty m-miles from K-Konoha, Haruno-sama." He replied, still shaking in fear. I looked him in the eye and then observed Karei. She wasn't moving, but her pulse was still there, meaning that she was only unconscious. I dropped her limp from to the floor and looked at Chinsei again.

"Is he a fighter?" I asked her calmly.

"Y-Yes." She said.

"Will he ever be able to fight again after his injury?" I questioned, looking at his maimed arm and crushed leg as I spoke.

"No." Chinsei told me hesitantly.

"Then you won't miss him very much." I mused, pulling a kunai out of my recently placed pouch. A sadistic smile graced my face under the mask as I trailed a cut along the injured mans cheek and then pulled away the kunai. "You're not even worth the metal." I explained. "Tell me where I can find Junseishin and Koudo oite Oozora." I demanded sharply.

"J-Junseishin would be t-training to the s-south of the c-camp. O-Oozora will be in his hut, with his w-wife. H-His hut is t-the one with the b-blue d-door just w-west of this t-tent." Chinsei told me, stuttering all the time. I stared from her to the man and left, the wind whipping my braid out behind me.

I came across Oozora's hut quickly, after following Chinsei's directions, and knocked on his door. someone inside was moving towards the wooden barrier and I cast a quiet Henge, turning into a blonde woman with blue eyes. This was the copied appearance of one of the women who had helped my bathe and change when I first woke up in the medical tent.

"Can I help you, Kougi-chan?" Asked a woman as she opened the door. Kougi was obviously the name of the woman I was intimidating and I nodded.

"I need to see Oozora please." I requested in a voice that wasn't my own. She smiled and let me come into her home. I entered and my eyes scanned the small hut for the man I wanted to kill.

"Who is it Chichi-chan?" I heard Oozora yell from one of the other rooms in the hut. He emerged from the door and grinned at me. "Hello Kougi-chan, how can I help you today?"

'**So, he's nice to this girl and not me, huh?'** 'This girl didn't bite him.' _**'I said sorry!'**__ 'Whatever…'_**'Hn.'**

"I need to speak with you in private Oozora." I told him.

"What, no '–kun'? I guess I'm in trouble." He said lightly. _'You have no idea…'_ **'Cha! Kill that basterd!'**

"I'll go and make some tea, you two can talk in the living room." Chichi said as she left us. Oozora lead me to another room in the house and he sat down. I, however, remained standing.

"Do you remember that girl you almost killed before Oozora?" I asked. he stiffened and became serious.

"Yes." He admitted.

"Why did you do it?"

"Because, she looks so much like that basterd, Sosei." He answered venomously.

"She is his sister. you knew that, right?" I asked him, trying to keep cool after he insulted my brother.

"No, I had no idea. SO, she's that Haruno Sakura girl he kept talking about."

"…yes." I answered, wondering how my brother would talk to these people about me unless…he was one of them.

"What about her anyway?" Oozora asked, snapping me out of my trance and back into reality.

"You know she wants to kill you?" I asked in amusement. He smirked and nodded. "You know that I _am_ Haruno Sakura." I said as I canalled the jutsu.

When the smoke cleared and he saw my ANBU clad form in front of him he gasped. Another sound met my ears as his wife, Chichi, came back and dropped the tea cups in shock of my true form. I pulled out a kunai and smirked, charging at the basterd who inflicted pain on my while I was defenceless.

I left the hut and the only thing that remained to tell people I was there, was the dripping crimson blood trailing out of the door, and the shrill screaming of a mourning wife. I smirked to myself as I travelled south, to meet up with Junseishin at the training grounds of the camp.

On my way there I got many curious glances; probably because of the blood smeared across my clothing and the Konoha ANBU mask adoring my face. The most curious thing was, by far, the scratched Hatei-ate of the leaf tied around my waist. The sign of a traitor and a missing-nin. The pink of my hair, although it not had splashes of red in it, was a give away of my identity and many avoided me. _'Good.'_

The sound of kunai hitting trees met my ears and I walked in the direction of the noise, where I found the man I was seeking, practicing his aim. He looked at me, probably felt my chakra, and sent me a questioning look. The blood was drying and I untied my mask, to show him my face. It was blank and completely emotionless. My eyes were also different from the last time he had seen them. They were purple and full of death. Only one who caused killing and suffering to happen could have eyes filled with that. The Zoneingan were my eyes that had seen death and had caused it. Green eyes showed though the purple, but they too were cold and unforgiving this time. He cringed.

"Sakura?" He asked. I nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"Leaving." Was my simple response. That one word caused his eyes to widen and his mouth to drop. The old me would have made some comment, but not now. I was a killer again.

"Why?"

"Because I can."

"Can I ask you something before you go?" He wondered. I nodded and he took in a breath. "Will I ever stand a chance with a girl like you?" He asked with a chuckle. My head shook from side-to-side, signalling a no. he sighed this time and looked down to the floor. "Will anyone ever stand a chance with you?"

"No."

"Don't you love anyone?"

"…No."

After that final word, I left him behind and began my journey north, to find my brother. His final question rebounded in my skull and I had to stop to think about it further.

"_Don't you love anyone?"_

'_Yes, I do love someone, and his name is...'_

"_No more soft personality…"_

'**No more mercy…'**

'_**No more sparing lives…'**_

'_Huntress is back…'_

'**The cold hearted assassin is back…'**

'_**Evil is back…'**_

"I am back and I'm here to stay."

'_Yes, I do love someone, and his name is...'_

'…_Itachi.'_


	41. Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty

I parted the branches of the tree I was sitting in, getting a clear view of the Konoha gates. No one was leaving today, probably too occupied with training and preparation for the war to go on missions. My reason for coming here was that this was the last place I saw Morokie, Toro and Hinichi. If I was going to find them anywhere, this would be the most likely place they would stay.

A low whistle escaped my lips and the birds in the trees scattered at the call. One bird, however, came closer. One bird named Hinichi. I smiled coldly and the hawk landed on my shoulder, rubbing her head against my cheek as a show of affection. I petted her and jumped from the tree, landing on the ground with a soft 'thump'.

"Hello Hinichi. I missed you. Where are Toro and Morokie, girl?" I asked the bird of prey. She screeched and flew off into the dense canopy of the Konoha forest, to find my other companions and bring them back. I sat in the shadow of the tree I was previously in and leaned against the trunk, masking my chakra as a precaution.

Hinichi soon returned with my white wolf and my Siberian tiger, all three of them appearing joyful at my return. Toro jumped in my lap and I stroked her head, while Morokie came and sat next to me and laid down, resting her head on my leg. Hinichi took her position on my shoulder once again and we sat like that for a while, as I let memories of my brother flood back.

_**Flash back**_

"_Sosei-nii-san! Can you train me to use a kunai today? Please!" Asked a small, pink haired, four-year-old girl. She was wearing a soft red, long sleeved jumper, with a Haruno circle on the front and on the shoulder of both sleeves, and some light pink jogging bottoms. Her ninja sandals were bright red, to match her jumper. Her older brother looked at her and smiled, his short, messy red hair blowing in the wind and his oceanic blue eyes twinkling with happiness as his sister ran closer to him. He wore a dark crimson jumper with the Haruno symbol on the back and black, full-length trousers with black ninja sandals._

"_Sure thing shisuta. Come on, I was heading to the training grounds now anyway. You can come too Sakura-chan." He replied, taking hold of her hand and leading her to the training grounds as promised._

_On the way, they passed the mist village orphanage and a disfigured boy kept staring at the little girl in her brother's grasp. She smiled and waved and the boy seemed to run away and hid in the shadow of one of the trees in the orphanage's garden. Sakura stared after him for a while, but shrugged and continued to walk with her brother._

"_Sosei-kun! Wait for me!" Called a girl, around eight, like Sosei, as she ran to catch up with the eldest Haruno. He stopped and rolled his eyes, as his mother taught him to be 'nice' to his fan girls and not to ditch them or act coldly towards them._

"_What is it, Eda?" He asked her. She smiled and her eyes trailed down to the child holding onto his hand. Her smile turned into a frown and she puffed out her chest in an attempt to make it seem bigger. Sosei rolled his eyes and Sakura giggled, thinking that this girl was playing with her._

"_Who's the midget Sosei-kun?" Eda asked arrogantly. Sakura looked at the older girl, with blonde hair and brown eyes, and smiled cutely._

"_I'm his-" Sakura started, but she was cut off when Eda pushed her to the ground. The little girl got a small cut on the palm of her hand and began to sniffle, almost in full on tears._

"_WHAT THE HELL EDA?!" Sosei yelled as her rushed to help his sister up and heal her hand the best he could for his age, which was rather well considering his clan specialised in healing and medic jutsu._

"_I was just getting that cow away from you! She has no right to think she can barge in and steal you away from me like that!" The blonde exclaimed, defending her actions._

"_She's not trying to 'steal' me! She's my little sister!"_

"_Oh." Was Eda's oh-so-smart response. She tried to help him pick up Sakura, but he brushed off her actions and carried his sister away from the abusive fan girl._

_Sosei didn't put her down for the rest of the journey, worried about other fans and their jealous responses to Sakura, thinking that she was his girlfriend or another fan. He passed the usual spot where he would meet his friends and got stopped by the gang, who he was supposed to meet there but forgot._

"_Sosei, what's up? Who's the girl?" Asked on of the taller boys. He had long, blonde hair, which he tied in a topknot, and dark, onyx eyes. Sakura shrank back and buried her face into her brothers black jumper and the boy grinned. "She's so cute! Maybe I should have brought my little brother with me today!" He suggested. Sosei rolled his eyes at the immaturity of his friends and tried to coax Sakura out of the nest she made in his chest._

"_Bishou, you're scaring her." The boy said, managing to get his sister to peek out of the cloth and look at the other boys with big, emerald eyes._

"_Seriously, who is she?" Wondered one of the shorter, but still taller than Sakura, boys in the meeting spot. He had grassy green hair and mismatched eyes. One of them was blue and the other was green, but he still like kind of intimidating._

"_This is my little shisuta, Sakura." Sosei said and the boys grinned again._

"_Nice to meet you Sakura-chan, I'm Bishou!" Said the boy who spoke first with blonde hair. Sakura managed a smile at him and the second boy who spoke, with the green hair, pushed the taller one away._

"_Sup, Chiisai _(tiny)_, I'm Koudou!" He declared, shaking Sakura's hand gently. She giggled and the last boy came up to her, shoving Koudou away with his hand. This one was a bit taller than koudou, but not as tall as Sosei or Bishou. His hair was dark orange and his eyes were a shade of grape green. He had a tan complexion and was the kindest looking out of all her brother's friends. The boy took one of her small hands and smiled._

"_Hey, I'm Kuttaku. Pleasure to meet you Sakura, your brother has told us very much about you." He announced politely. Sakura smiled and squeezed his hand, her brother letting her down on the floor so that he could talk to his friends for a while._

_A few girls walked past and sighed dreamily at the four boys, who scoffed. Another group of four older girls walked past next and stopped a few feet away from the group of boys. One of the girls then looked at Sakura, who was sitting on the floor, playing with her toes though her soft red sandals, and squealed at how cute the pink-haired toddler was. The noticed the Haruno symbol on her clothing, unlike Eda had, and instantly sorted her as Sosei's relative._

"_Sosei-kun, who is this little cutie?" A pretty girl with icy blue hair and bronze eyes asked. Sakura looked at her smiled shyly._

"_My little shisuta, Mizu-chan." Sosei answered, directing a smile at the girl._

"_How old is she?" Asked another girl, this one with fiery red hair and the same bronze eyes._

"_Hey, Kaki-chan! She's four." Sakura's brother told them, obviously holding a certain amount of trust for the girls._

"_What's her name?" A third girl questioned. She had silky brown hair with missy green tips and another pair of bronze eyes._

"_Tsuchi-chan! I wondered where you were. Her name is Haruno Sakura." Sosei said with a grin directed at the third girl, Tsuchi. "Where's Fuzei-chan?"_

"_I'm right here Sosei-kun!" Answered the fourth girl. She had silvery-white hair and a copying pair of bronze eyes._

"_Sakura-chan, these are the Youso sisters, Mizu, Kaki, Tsuchi and Fuzei." Sosei told her._

"_Hello!" The sisters said in union._

_**End Flash Back**_

That was the day I met my brother's friends. It turned out that the Youso sisters weren't fans and they were his only female friends. Their clan name, Youso, means element, and their names are the elements themselves.

Mizu was named for the element of water. Kaki was named for fire. Tsuchi was the element of earth. Fuzei was the namesake of air. The girls each specialised in their named element and all of the girls were thirteen when I met them, making them five years older than my brother and his friends, and nine years older than me.

However, the first time I met them, was also the last. The same day, all nine of us went training together. I will never forget that day.

_**Flash Back**_

"_We were just getting ready to go to the training grounds, what about you guys?" Mizu asked the boys and Sakura._

"_I was taking Sakura for kunai practice, since I haven't helped her with her aim in a while." Sosei told the teenage girls._

"_We weren't really doing anything." Kuttaku said, polite as ever. Tsuchi smiled and seemed to get an idea._

"_Why don't you guys come with us? We can all train together! Besides, I don't think you should be teaching your shisuta to aim when you suck at it yourself, Sosei-kun!" Tsuchi suggested. Sakura grinned and nodded her head vigorously. Sosei laughed at his sister and sighed._

"_I guess that's a yes then. Well, lead the way ladies." Bishou implored with a grin of his own._

_They all walked on their way to the training grounds, talking about random things the whole way. When they finally arrived there was already a group of people training there. They seemed to be ninja, but didn't carry the symbol of the mist village. The symbol on their Hatei-ates was an hourglass, the symbol of Sunagakure._

"_Sakura-chan, stay back, okay?" Fuzei said to the youngest and most inexperienced of the group. She nodded her pink head and took a few steps back, only to bump into someone behind her._

"_Hello there little one." Said a husky male voice, scaring Sakura to screams. She screeched loudly and Sosei and the boys turned to her. The man behind her lifted Sakura up and held her to his chest, almost looking like he was protecting her. Sakura's eyes filled with fearful tears and she sobbed._

"_Sakura-chan! Let her go!" Sosei hissed at the older man. The man smirked and tilted his head to the side._

"_I think that those other girls are the ones you should __**really**__ be worrying about." The man told them. The Youso sisters screamed and their throats were slit quickly, leaving them dead. Sakura's eyes widened and she screamed louder, struggling against the man holding her, who was having trouble keeping his grip._

_She escaped from his grasp and ran to the closest person she believed she could trust. Koudou. She grasped his leg and he looked down, picked her up and sat her on his hip, holding her in a brotherly manner._

"_What do we do now Sosei?" Koudou whispered to Sakura's brother._

"_Give her to me." He demanded in answer, taking Sakura from his friend. "Sakura, do you trust me?" He asked his sister kindly._

"_Yes." She responded._

"_I want you to run Sakura-chan. I want you to run into the woods and hide." He commanded._

"_But-"_

"_No buts!" Sosei said, interrupting the smaller girl. "I'm here. I won't let anyone hurt you." He assured her._

_Koudou was cut down, soon followed by Kuttaku, and then Bishou. Sakura sniffled again as the ninja from Suna turned to them._

"_Run Sakura-chan." He said, she turned and prepared to run, but he said something to stop her. "Sakura-chan, come and find me one day." Sosei said with a smile._

"_Okay!" She told him._

"_Promise?"_

"_Promise!"_

_That was the last time the siblings saw each other since that day._

_**End Flash Back**_

"I promised that I would find you, nii-san. I never break my promises." I stated as I made my way to the gates of Konoha and readied my hands for a Henge.

"I'll find you."


	42. Chapter Forty One

Chapter Forty One

"AHHHHHH! TSUNADE-SAMA! THE AKATSUKI ARE IN YOUR OFFICE!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs. Hinata and Ino, who were the closest to him during his outburst, had to shield their ears to lessen the noise. Sasuke was being restrained by Gai and Kankuro, with Choji sitting on his feet, so that he wouldn't attack Itachi.

"Yes, Naruto, I am aware of that." The Hokage replied. Gaara stood straight, as he was previously leaning against the wall, and glared at them.

"Have you come to form an alliance with us?" Ino asked boldly. However, all of her courage was gone when Kisame and Sasori looked in her direction and she fainted out of fear.

"Sorry about her, she's not one of our bravest." Kakashi apologised, since Kisame was just staring at her fallen form like she was a puddle on the sun.

"In answer to the blonde's question, we are not here to form an alliance." Itachi stated blankly. "We are here to make a trade."

"What kind of trade?" Tenten, who was waking Ino, wondered suspiciously. Deidara turned to her and grinned widely.

"We want Sakura-chan back, yeah. You get these kids, we get her. Simple deal!" He exclaimed proudly. The bomber caught sight of Ino, who was slowly beginning to regain conciousness, and turned pale. "She…looks like…me, yeah." He whispered, as if he had just seen a ghost.

"**OH MY GOD!**" The blonde girl screamed after fully waking up and seeing Deidara. "**Why is that homosexual creep-o copying my look?!**" She yelled, pointing at Deidara.

"**I AM NOT A HOMOSEXUAL! YEAH!**" He yelled back. Ino shrank into herself a bit before growing a spine and standing to her full height, which was still only up to Deidara's shoulder.

"**Why are you copying me then? OH MY GOD! ARE YOU, **like**, MY LONG-LOST BROTHER OR SOMETHING?!**" She screamed in his face.

"**No! And I'm proud to say that I never will be related to an idiot like you! Yeah!**"

"**I am not an idiot!**"

"**Yes you are, yeah!**"

"**Homo!**"

"**Bimbo!**"

"**Gay lord!**"

"**At least I'm lord over something, unlike a dumb pig like you, yeah! I will say **_**again!**_** I AM NOT GAY!**"

"**You're the one who copied my look, bitch!**"

"**I can't be a bitch, I'm a guy! And I'm older than you! You copied **_**my**_** look if anything! Yeah!**"

"**At least I don't say 'yeah' after every sentence, like some…um…homo, look-stealing, GAY little boy!**"

"**I** **didn't steal your look! And I'm older than you!**"

"Well then, you must have a Lolita complex." Naruto stated bluntly to Deidara.

"A…what? Yeah?" Deidara and the blonde pig- err; I mean…Ino questioned the blonde vessel.

"Lolita complex, were an older guy likes younger girls or a younger girl likes older guys." Naruto informed them all with a robotic text-bookish way of speaking. "What?"

"**Homo!**" Ino screamed, continuing their previous fight.

"**Bitch!**" Deidara said, only encouraging the twenty-year-old to carry on.

"**Gay!**" The girl yelled, so loud that all of Konoha would have heard.

"**Slut!**" The man shouted, equally as loud.

"_**QUIET!**_" Hissed the woman Hokage loudly, allowing herself to be heard over the feuding blonds and succeeding in shutting them up. "Thank you. Now, I am sorry to tell you this, but Sakura isn't in the village. She was kidnapped by rebels while under the care of Hyuuga Neji. Not that it's his fault."

"I see." The oldest Uchiha said, nodding his head slightly. _'Sakura, where are you?'_ He wondered to himself, worrying over the safety of the girl he had come to love.

_With Sakura_

I had transformed myself into a twenty-year-old with icy blue hair and bronze eyes. My clothing consisted of a baby blue baby-tee, which cut off mid-stomach and some dark blue, mid-thigh length shorts. My shoes were now long, black ninja boots and I had wrist-length black gloves. My hair was short, the same length as it had been when I cut it during the first Chunin exams, and had a midnight blue ribbon tied to a lock of my, now blue, hair on the right side.

I walked to the wall a few feet left of the gate, so that I wouldn't be stopped by the guards there, and jumped up. When I landed, I looked to the left and right of me and walked further down the wall. There were usually guards patrolling the wall between the forest and the village, but now I needed to find them. The walk continued for around five minuets before I found them.

They threw kunai at me, but I caught them all and threw them back. One of the two was killed instantly, since I had hit him twice in the heart and once in the brain, but the other was still alive, barley. He had a kunai lodged in on of his major arteries and, if removed, he would bleed out though the wound and die from blood loss.

"Give me your forehead protector." I commanded, since the other ninja's had blood smeared it and this man's was clean. He shook his head so, to prove that I meant business, I moved the kunai lodged in his artery around, causing him to hiss in pain.

"O-Okay, t-take it!" He cried, uncoiling his legs so that I could take the item from around his waist. I was going to take it whether he said I could or not, I just preferred to take it when he was letting me than pry it from a corpse.

When I had a good hold on the forehead protector, I tied it around my waist and offered him a dazzling smile as I scratched the symbol with my kunai, doing the same to the other three headbands I had found. That was the last thing he saw before I took back my kunai and left him to die slowly. It was cruel, but it was also one of the most recognisable ways the huntress kills. Once he is found, people will instantly know of my return, so I better make my visit quick.

An eerie whistle escaped my throat and I thought I saw a flash of black and red, but shrugged it off as my imagination when Morokie, Toro and Hinichi all came to me. I tied a forehead protector somewhere on my animals, around my wolf and tiger's necks and shrank Hinichi's to do the same.

_Kiba's PoV_

I heard a low whistle hit the wind and instantly thought of Sakura. It appeared as if the Akatsuki had heard it as well, since they had left before I could voice my findings. Tsunade sent the rest of us out to follow them and what we all saw upon catching up wasn't a pretty sight.

Blood was spread over the ground and three shinobi bodies lay on the ground, looking as if they had bee mauled by some wild animal, like a bear or a wolf. Another odd thing was that all of the bodies were missing a forehead protector. Neji scanned the area with his Byakugan and sighed.

"No one is around within my sight range other than us." He informed the rest of the group.

"Guys! Come and look at this!" Naruto yelled from the wall. We all jumped up and Ino and Hinata threw themselves down again, throwing up because of the horrible sight of the already decaying body. It was amazing that the body was of a man Shikamaru had seen alive this morning and the body looked as if it had been decomposing for weeks.

"She was here." Itachi stated bluntly. The others looked at him and blinked. "It was a secret between Sakura and I. Her wolf, Morokie, could spread the plague with her willing touch and a jutsu from Sakura. Toro, the tiger, has the power of hypnosis from her strips and Hinichi can rot corpse with the same effect of weeks in minuets. That is another reason Huntress is so successful."

"That information might have been useful earlier!" Tenten yelled at her, her stomach churning by refusing to chuck and her friends' had. However, when Kiba bent down and pried a note from the corpses hand, causing a few of the fingers to drop and the smell of rotting flesh to arise, Tenten joined in the puke-party.

"The note is for the Akatsuki. Somehow, she knew you were here." Kiba said, handing the letter to Itachi. Shino sent some of his maggots into the corpse to see if he could uncover any more clues and Shinrin, Choji and Lee walked home their girlfriend/fiancé/wife respectively. Naruto had enough and left, swearing off of eating for a few days and the others, except Neji, Gaara, Sasuke and the Akatsuki, dispersed to go their own ways home too.

The note didn't really say anything, just a letter for their leader about her leaving the criminal organization and never coming beck. The news hit Itachi like the plague and he looked at the corpse, soaking in the irony of the whole situation and almost laughing at it. The switch wouldn't work, but the criminals left without the small children anyway.

It never occurred to anyone that they couldn't have taken the siblings if they tried, since the four children were quickly making their way to the temples of Tarento with their only older sister. A strange look in her eyes that they had never seen with her before, yet it matched her so completely.

A mix of love and hate, forever turning in her eyes. The opposition of her self made the worst enemy of the huntress the only thing that stopped her killing mercilessly. The worst enemy of the huntress assassin was Haruno Sakura herself. The murder almost laughed at the irony.


	43. Chapter Forty Two

Chapter Forty Two

My big sister was much different than how I remember her. Her eyes had changed. Hinichi seemed more sinister with the blood on her talons. Toro looked evil as she snarled with human flesh stuck in her teeth. Morokie seemed like she would kill us as she came closer with the stench of rotting flesh radiating off of her. Sakura-nee-chan looked as if she was willing to murder anyone we met with her eyes though. They were still green. They were still the same in appearance. Now, however, they were empty.

"Hurry up!" My pink-haired sister barked at us. It wasn't fair. We were younger and less powerful than her, yet she expected us to move at her speed. Terrane looked like she was on the verge of tears. Karene had no expression on his face, other than pure dismay. No, Sakura-nee-chan wasn't the same at all.

"We can't move as fast as you Sakura-nee-chan!" Tyiko called. I looked to him in disbelief as the woman leading us stopped on a branch. We all stopped as well as she turned to us. Her face was dark and it scared me more than anything to see my big sister this way.

"What did you say?" She asked demonically. My twin brother began shaking in fear and she turned again. "We'll set up camp here." Sakura ordered. My siblings and I nodded and we jumped down from the trees.

Looking around, I knew that this wasn't a very good camping spot. There were multiple places for an enemy to attack, but I was beginning to believe that an attack was exactly what Sakura-nee-chan wanted. She seemed to crave fighting now. I had, even if she told me not to look, gotten a peak at the bodies she left on the wall. It was a horrible and unneeded way for the ninja to die.

Later that day, when we took our first break, she had handed us each a forehead protector and a kunai. She told us to put the same mark on them as she had put on hers and wear them wherever we wanted. My twin and I, for the sake of matching, had attached ours around or waists. Karene tied his around his left arm with his right hand and his teeth. Terrane, however, said that she didn't want to wear it.

Sakura-nee-chan got angry at her. Terrane cried after that. Our older sister didn't hit her, or hurt her in any way, she would never do that, but she had told Terrane something. I didn't hear it, nor did my brothers, but it upset Terrane. In the end, my younger sister had chosen to wear her forehead protector around her neck. She didn't speak after that, only the occasional sniffle or sometimes a muffled sob were heard from her.

After camp was ready, Sakura-nee-chan went into the woods to find firewood. Another thing that would draw an enemy closer, I noted to myself. She really was looking for a fight. Morokie and Hinichi went with her, but she left Toro to protect us. Although, I think it was really just a way for her to know when, and if, someone came to fight. Toro scared me and my siblings, unintentionally though. It was just her presence after we saw what she could do that made us fear the tiger.

_Terrane's PoV_

"Here." Sakura said as she came back into the small clearing. I caught the object she tossed at me and observed it in my hands. It was a green mess of roots, nothing more. Turning it over in my hands, my confusion grew until I asked my question.

"What is it?" I asked curiously. She smirked and pointed to the plant.

"You tell me. Get it right and I'll give you a prize." She promised lightly, with a small chuckle. I gulped, noting that she didn't tell me what I got if I didn't answer correctly. The plant seemed a lighter shade of green than most plants, I noticed, and looked more fragile than a weed, so I was confident that it was a flower of some sort.

"I-Is it a p-pansy root?" I asked unsurely. She chuckled softly again.

"No." Sakura said. I paled. "It's the root of a dandelion." She told me. I slapped myself mental and she stepped closer, ruffled my hair a little, she then sat down, motioning for me to do the same.

"Why did you give it to me?" I wondered, sure that she wouldn't do anything other than tell me. I was wrong. She looked at me with an evil look in her eye and a chill crept down my spine.

"You don't like to kill, do you?" She asked back. I shook my head, causing my long ponytail to swish behind me, and Sakura sighed. "I wouldn't make you then." Was the statement which followed her inquiry. I looked at her, but she was staring at the ground, as if her mind was elsewhere.

"Why did you give me the roots, Sakura-nee-chan?" I asked softly. She turned her head, and she looked at me. Her gaze was empty, but, for some reason, I wasn't worried by it. It soothed me to know that she wasn't angry at me for speaking dumbly. Not that I wouldn't prefer her to be happy again, I just liked her more when she was blank than angry.

"A long time ago, when I was three, my older brother came home from the mist academy, a little later than usual." She confessed to me. I didn't get where this was going, but she continued without explaining the purpose of her story. "He told my mother that they had learnt where to hit someone from behind to kill them. I looked at him in shock when he said that, and ran out of the house. I was scared of him for that."

I watched my big sister intently. She was confessing some of her past, while I was waiting for her to do so. Not only was I shocked that my big sister, the fearless assassin, had a fear, I was also surprised that she was someone's younger sibling. She always seemed so big to me, so powerful. The thought of someone thinking of her as a baby sister came as a startling blow to my thoughts. She continued.

"My brother, Sosei is his name, chased after me. He soon caught up, he was faster than me after all, and asked why I ran. I told him that I was scared, that I didn't like the thought of him killing. Sosei told me that it was a ninja's job to protect people, and that meant killing sometimes. If ninja didn't kill, more bad people in the world would be free to do as they pleased." She still didn't look at me, but I could tell that she knew I was looking at her.

"I told him that I didn't want to kill and that I wasn't going to become a ninja. He laughed and said that not all ninja kill. My confusion must have shown, I mean, he just contradicted his own words! He told me about medic-nins and how they had a different set of rules to ninja. Ninja rule number one states that all Nin must do what is necessary. Medic rule number one states that medics must help anyone who needs it. I preferred the latter at that time, and said that I would be a medic." She concluded.

"In the end, I kill anyway, so I guess that my plans didn't fan out the way I wanted them to. I killed once, then again and again and eventually, it became a career for me." She admitted with an empty smile.

"But, that doesn't answer me question." I stated boldly. Her smile vanished and her eyes hardened. I gulped and automatically regretted my big mouth.

"Answer me this; do you want to kill or heal?" She asked coldly.

"H-Heal." I answered. She took the dandelion root and put it in a pot with some orange liquid. After that, Sakura took some mud and put that in too, closing the pot afterwards. She then shook it repeatedly before removing the lid again. It smelled great, but I knew that it was filled with a weed, mud and some strange liquid.

The look in her eyes told me nothing as she took my arm and lifted it above my head. Blinding pain hit me and I cried out as she pushed the elbow and broke my limb. I looked at the arm with wide eyes as she set it down and saw that my bone protruded the skin. Sakura, however, remained stoic. She held out the mixture and looked me in the eye.

"Drink." Came the command.

I took the mix with my good arm and lifted it to my lips, drowning the whole substance in one gulp. It tasted vile and made me want to gag, but my arm, the broken one, began to hurt more. I shifted my gaze from the, now empty, pot to my arm and saw that the bone was sinking back into my skin. The holes made from the break then glowed white and sealed up.

"Interesting, your healing chakra is white." She commented, not at all fazed by the miracle which just occurred. She smirked at the look on my face. "Surprised? Don't be. You just healed yourself. The mix was to push your chakra in the direction the pain you felt came from. Your chakra almost has a mind of its own before you learn to use it and it decided to fix the pain. You have just, with the help of that mixture I invented, healed yourself faster than Tsunade could have, and with less chakra than her."

Words caught in my throat as I thought of a way to express what I was feeling. Firstly was anger. She did, after all, cause me great pain to show me something she could have said with words. Next was gratitude. Her show had given me proof that I could heal rather than kill, even if I did need her mixture to do it. Lastly was trust. I now knew that she would never hurt me, unless it was to teach me something, and she would quickly help to take away the pain.

"I'm thinking about teaching you to be a medic." Sakura confessed. "It would be a waste of your aiming ability, but you could do it. You have more chance at succeeding than your brothers and your little team needs a healer."

"W-What about you? Can't you heal us?" I wondered curiously.

"I…don't think I'll be around for much longer." She told me as she got up and walked back to our camp. I soon followed, thinking of her words and the offer to make me a medic-nin. Then I remembered the conversation we had earlier that day, when I had been told to wear the marked forehead protector.

_**Flashback**_

_My brothers and I were getting tired and slowing down a little. Sakura-nee-chan seemed to notice this and called us weak. She did, however, stop for us to rest. We ate some of the food we had brought with us and drank a bit of water, before sitting back and resting our sore feet. Nee-chan, however, never took a break and I was beginning to wonder of she was human at all, or just an inhuman killer._

"_Take these." She demanded as she held out some forehead protectors, each with a different coloured sash._

_My oldest brother, Karene, took the one with the black-sash, the twins each took one of the blue coloured ones and I grabbed the red one, since it was the only one left. The next thing we received was am extremely sharp kunai. It could had cut a hair down the middle without bending it or moving it in any way at all._

"_Do you see how I've cut though the symbol on mine?" Sakura asked, us nodding in response. "You're all too young to be ninja yet, but missing-nin don't exactly follow the rules. For now on, you are ninja and you will cut the metal of your forehead protectors to show yourselves as missing-nin."_

_We did as we were told and slid the kunai though the symbol of the leaf village. It was then I noticed something. Sakura's slash wasn't though a leaf symbol, but one from the mist. I shook my head and noted to ask her about it later._

"_Put them on, I don't care where." She said carelessly. My brothers did so and tied the bands somewhere on themselves, but I knew them to be taken from the bodies of the ninja Sakura-nee-chan didn't want us to see, so I threw mine to the floor._

"_I won't wear it!" I stated. She glared solidly at me._

"_Boys, go over there for a minuet." Sakura commanded. Karene, Ryiko and Tyiko did so and left us. She turned to me again, but didn't glare. Instead, my big sister offered me a calm, undisturbed look, as if she was going to tell me that I didn't have to._

"_Please, I know where it came from." I said with a sob. Tears started to pour down my face, but my sister didn't do anything except pick up the forehead protector and dust it free of dirt. She then looked at me with cold eyes._

"_Mine came from somewhere much worse." She stated. I furrowed my eyebrows and she elaborated. "I had one from Konoha, three in fact. One was given to my when I was made a genin, but I destroyed it when I first left the Akatsuki. The next was the one I got when I went to Konoha after leaving, since I didn't have one. The third is the one I took from the body of the man I killed on the wall." Sakura finished. I looked at the current symbol on her forehead protector and tilted my head._

"_This one was my father's. I'm am original clan member from the Haruno branch family in the village hidden in the mist." She said, crouching into a position that would let her come face-to-face with me. "I understand that you don't like killing, but I do it for a living. My mind wasn't considering the fact that you hated it so much, so I didn't think a dead mans protector would matter too much."_

_I sobbed again and she wiped the tear from my cheek with her thumb. She smiled at me and made shushing noises as comfort. My sobs lessened, but tears were still falling down my face. She turned cold again as sonly as she had comforted me, and left. I shakily picked up the forehead protector and tied it around my neck, waling to my brothers in time to hear Sakura-nee-chan say that we were moving again._

_**End flashback**_

"Terrane-chan, come and have a look at this!" Ryiko called to me as he and Tyiko popped their heads out of a bush. I laughed quietly and walked over to them.

"Ryiko-nii-san, Tyiko-nii-san, what is it?" I asked them. Tyiko pointed to a clearing past the bushes and I gasped. There were nine sand village ninja and three tents in the bigger spot of cleared forest. They didn't seem to notice my brothers and me, or we weren't considered as a threat, until Karene walked over.

"What are you three looking at?" He asked quietly. Suddenly, we were surrounded by the ninja and our eyes filled with fear. The twins in front of my whispered their prayers for Sakura-nee-chan to get back from her water gathering and save us, since all three animal had followed her away this time.

A tear escaped my eye and the man in front of my lifted his katana, readying himself to strike.


	44. Chapter Forty Three

_A tear escaped my eye and the man in front of my lifted his katana, readying himself to strike._

Chapter Forty Three

The air around him shifted as the blade cut though and sliced down. My own and three other pairs of eyes screwed themselves shut, but the pain was never felt. The only thing my brothers and I could feel was a warm, sticky substance dripping on us, as we were huddled close to each other. I was the first to open my big blue eyes, but soon regretted it and the sight that awaited me.

A man, around the same age, possibly a bit older, than Sakura-nee-chan stood above the four of us. He had soft brown hair, tied in a ponytail, and sparkling blue eyes. His arms were spread out to his sides to protect my brothers and me and his breaths were short and sparse. He grinned weakly and fell to the side. My scream echoed though the trees as the other sand-nin began to come closer to the siblings. I cried, begging Sakura to return quickly.

Sure enough, the next thing I saw was Morokie running though a bush behind the man with the katana and bite him in the arm, administering her poisonous plague immediately. Soon after that, my brothers opened their eyes and watched as Toro made seven of the ninja stab themselves with their kunai, using her hypnotising strips. Screams of the nin were spread far as Hinichi dug her talons into them, rotting their bodies while they were still alive.

It happened in a blur, but Sakura-nee-chan dropped from a tall tree, drove three kunai though the skull of the man closest to our original saviour and dragged him over to where we were. She then whistled creepily and covered us with her own body, shielding our sight from the horrors going on around us. I saw her send a wary glance around to the man who saved us and sighed.

Hinichi landed on her shoulder and she commanded Morokie and Toro to bring the brunette man back to our camp as she took my hand and settled her arm around Karene's shoulders. She smiled gently at us as we walked back to the camp we had set up not too long ago. Once we arrived, she took the man to the side of the camp and called me over.

"Terrane-chan, I want you to watch over him. If he starts to sweat, use the rag over there to cool him off, if the bleeding gets worst, put pressure on his wound. Don't move him or let him move, I'll be right back." She said. I nodded as she walked away, slinging an empty bag over her shoulder on the way.

_Sakura's PoV_

The only thing I felt right mow was confusion. Nothing made any sense right now. My siblings were attacked by sand-nin, Sai was back for whatever reason and I suddenly have the willing urge to help him. The last was probably pity mixed with gratitude for helping my siblings, and the former was most likely because they wandered into the sand-nin's camp and were seen as a threat. However, I still had no reasonable answer for the second.

Picking some Echinacea, to help with infection, and Ginkgo Biloba, to lessen the pain when I perform the jutsu to bind his skin over the wound and help to heal it, I began my walk beck to the camp. On the way I had to pass the, now dead, sand-nin and their camp, so I chose to observe my work from a passer-by's point of view. It would help me to improve the killings in future, or just mess up the minds of whoever finds the corpses.

My eyes bled into the haunting purple colour of my bloodline and I swept the camp, using my heightened vision. Switching to the Byakugan, to check for living cowards, missed by my blood-lusting pets during their slaughter, I found none. Dropping the bloodline completely, I scanned over the battle site with my captivating green eyes and smirked.

Thirty four dead men. Fifteen died of the plague. Eleven rotting corpses began to rot during life, thus making the process more painful. Seven men committing suicide, under the influence of Toro's hypnosis. One lying one the ground, blood pouring from the wound in his skull where I removed my seven kunai harshly. This would make the best ANBU gag, let alone a genin.

My journey to the camp continued and I found my brothers sleeping amongst their blankets. Terrane, the poor thing, was struggling to keep her eyes open. I went to her and placed a soft hand gently on her back. Her blue eyes looked at me and I smiled, letting her go to sleep with the others while I worked on healing Sai. She nodded and left, rubbing her eyes sleepily and yawning slightly.

I took the herbs I had gathered and ground them together into a paste, before carefully rubbing them into his wound. The cut was not too deep, only running just past his spine. No major damage to worry about, just the stab. I sighed and my hands glowed green as I held them above his back, slowly healing the wound to perfection.

Once this was done, I concentrated on the smaller cuts and bruises littering his form and healed them with some of my chakra, before healing myself. I cast one more look at the Neboutoshi man and walked to my family, healing away the scrapes and grazes on them too. My mind split when I realised that I too needed sleep. I could sleep over here with my siblings, to guard them, or sleep closer to Sai, since he was the most vulnerable at the moment. In the end, I choose not to sleep at all and meditated in the centre of the camp.

_Sai's PoV_

The sun rose and I opened my eyes, feeling the sting if the wound on my back gone completely. Not a single one of the children could have possibly done this so quickly, could they? It was impossible for a mere child to have the strength to heal a wound like that until it was gone, and then have enough energy left to heal my minor wounds too.

I left my thoughts wander as I scanned the camp I was in. not the best area for safety, but not the worst. There were no tents present and I was only set down on a make-shift bed of blankets and leaves. The children seemed to be sleeping on the same thing as me, and a third presence sat in the centre of the camp.

It was a woman, judging on the shape, and she seemed small and agile, almost cat-like. Her green eyes snapped around and stared at my while her soft pink locks fell over her shoulder in a single, tight braid. Wait, pink? Could it be her? I've been looking for Sakura since she left and I found her just by protecting some kids? What luck!

"S-Sakura?" I called out in a hoarse voice, making me cringe to hear the weakness of it. She smirked and walked over.

"What do you want Neboutoshi?" She asked coldly, with a hint of amusement present in her smooth voice.

"Why are you here, helping these children?" I wondered, the sound of my voice becoming stronger the more I used it. She seemed to ponder this for a moment and shrugged.

"It might have something to do with sibling bonds, but, I don't really feel like abandoning them. You're just lucky I didn't leave you out there to die really." Sakura stated, her eyes wandering around my face. "What about you?"

"I was sent to find you and bring you back to the camp." I informed her. She snorted and began to laugh at me.

"You're not in any position to take me _anywhere_ right now. I suggest that you get some more rest, you have to leave soon." She said, leaving no room for talk or compromise.

"No wonder Sosei spoke about you so much." I yelled, catching her attention and waking the younger kids.

"What did you say?" She wondered, turning to face me and walking back. I smiled smugly when she kneeled in front of me so that she could hear me better.

"He always said how cute you were and how you would become a great ninja. Oozora got fed up of him talking about you but I, being younger, loved the stories he told about the two of you." I said, further catching her interest. "Too bad he betrayed us." I slipped, wanting to hit myself after seeing the murderous look in her eyes.

"_What_?" She hissed. I gulped. But decided to carry on.

"Yeah. I guess betraying runs in the family. Not only did you run from Konoha, but you killed some of their ninja. and you ran from the Akatsuki, without bothering to get your siblings away from them." I told her with a smirk. "Your brother didn't kill when he left mist, but he did when he left the rebels. Too bad the Haruno clan will always be known for running away. You did, but only after that pathetic Haruno, also know as your snivelling brother showed you how." I finished.

A sting arose in my cheek and I knew I had accomplished my goal. To make her loose her temper. However, this was meant to distract her enough for me to take her back to the camp, not send me into an unconscious sleep.

_'Damn.'_


	45. Chapter Forty Four

**A/N: Sorry about the wait! Hope you enjoy this chapter, cos I had to overcome writers block to get it done and I _STILL_ hate how it turned out :P**  


Chapter Forty Four

She was gone. Haruno Sakura had escaped from the rebels who kidnapped her and they sent one of their men after her. Sai was the one they sent. Neboutoshi Sai. He was the youngest son of the leader; the one Sakura had met when she was younger. I couldn't lose her. I had to tell her that I love her.

Never have I, Uchiha Itachi, felt love, but she made me feel it every moment of every day. Since the time I first fell in love with her, I have been fighting better. I have been fighting for her. To protect her. To show her that I care. If I lose Sakura now, I might never want to live again. So far, we have no leads other than the mutt and his dog. The Akatsuki have been forced to team up with the Konoha twelve and a boy named Sai, too similar to that of her kidnapper for my liking, to find Sakura.

"She's somewhere in this forest. Terrane-chan, Ryiko, Tyiko and Karene are with her…as well as…_Sai_." The dog-nin, I can't recall his name, spat out in disgust, his large dog growling at the name. "Why is she with him anyway?! She should have either killed or ditched that psycho-manic of a kidnapper!"

"Take it easy, Kiba. Try to relax and calm Akamaru down." The fox demon vessel calmed him, staring warily at the canine by its owner's side. _'So that is the name of the mutt who has a crush on my girl. Note-to-self, add "Kill mutt-boy-Kiba" to my to-do list.'_ I thought to myself as I glared randomly at inanimate objects that I passed. A certain branch seemed to glare back at me, so I growled at it in return. Smirking to myself, I decided that the branch had sufficiently learned its lesson.

"W-We should c-camp o-out here for the n-night." Stuttered the Hyuuga weakling. She shouldn't have even been allowed to bare the name of 'heiress' to the Hyuuga clan. In fact, I believe that the reason her father married her off to a Hyuuga side-branch from mist was so her younger, and more superior, sister could have the title.

The other ninja I had been forced to accept company with, other than Deidara, Kisame and Sasori, agreed with the timid girl and set down their packs. I rolled my crimson eyes when I saw the blonde girl take a hair-brush out of her pack and begin to brush her hair with it. Whatever her name was, she was a poor excuse for a ninja. Her boyfriend, or who I presumed to be, walked to her and took the brush from her hand, giving her a potato chip to replace it.

"I CAN'T BRUSH MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR WITH A POTATO CHIP CHOJI-KUN!" She screamed after him. I almost felt sorry for the boy, but Kisame was the first to comment on her un-ninja-like behaviour.

"You, blonde-chick who copied Deidara's look," He said gruffly, grabbing her attention. "You need to _shut up_ and try to act more like a ninja. Even _Tobi_ is a better ninja than you!" He insulted. Even Sasori had to smirk at _that_ statement. It was harsh, but by all means true.

"Who is a worst ninja than Tobi, Kisame-sanpai? Tobi really wants to know!" Said an overly-hyper voice from a bush behind us. We turned and the mist Akatsuki walked into our vision. Hidan seemed to be scowling and glaring, throwing the occasional curse, at a smirking Kakuzu. The plant-man, also know as Zetsu, just looked bored and slightly hungry.

"This chick with the blonde hair and purple outfit." Kisame told the mask-wearing criminal. We, the red-cloud missing-nin, heard a shrill scream coming from the aforementioned blonde and had to cover our ears to try and block it out.

"There are _more_ of you?!" She shrieked. The noise attracted the other ninja, who ran over with weapons in hand.

"Oh! Tobi thinks that she looks like you, Deidara-sanpai!" Tobi stated gleefully, causing the clay-nin to glare openly at him. "Hello! Tobi is Tobi's name and Tobi is very glad to meet you!" He said with a gleeful wave.

"Who are you?!" The Kyuubi container demanded roughly, threatening Tobi with a kunai. If only he knew what kind of power little Tobi possessed. Then they would think twice about questioning him so harshly. In fact, the only people who could stop Tobi's attack were Sakura, the Akatsuki leader, Tobi himself and me. Me and Sakura could only just stop him though and usually became exhausted for days afterwards.

"Tobi has already told you Tobi's name!" Tobi said, getting a little annoyed.

"I know that Tobi's name is Tobi, but who are _you_?!" The blonde asked again, not understanding Tobi's way of speech.

"Tobi is _Tobi_!" Our smallest male member yelled.

"**Now Tobi, no need to yell.**" Zetsu's dark side scolded, edging away from the growling mutt, Akamaru.

"Tobi is sorry, Zetsu-sanpai!"

"_Good boy, Tobi._" His light half said, smiling a little.

"So…his name is Tobi?" I just sighed at the question/statement the kitsune had voiced and nodded as Tobi jumped around repeating 'Tobi is a good boy' over and over again.

"Um…where is Saku-chan, Itachi-sanpai?" Tobi asked, turning to me. I looked down and glared at the floor. Sensing my distress, or more like readiness to rip Tobi's head apart from his body, Deidara stepped in to answer.

"She was kidnapped Tobi-baka, yeah." He stated solemnly. "Why are you guys here anyway, yeah?"

"We were playing monopoly at our base; I was wining, when we felt some strong chakra. Hidan suggested we check it out, but he was really just being a sore loser. We did and here we are!" Kakuzu stated, seemingly happy at his monopoly fortune.

"Why are you all the way here? We're really close to Konoha." The mutt, Kiba, stated dumbly.

"You're in mist, dumb-dog." Hidan said to him, mumbling the last part "If Sakura is gone, then we want to help find her. Right guys?" Hidan asked his team.

"Tobi wants to come and help!" Tobi yelled happily at the idea.

"Only Sakura can play a decant game of monopoly with me, so I would be delighted to help." Kakuzu said.

"_I will come!_" The light of our carnivorous plant stated. "**Me too!**" Copied the dark. Soon, the Konoha ninja were teamed up with all of the mist and Konoha Akatsuki base members, minus Sakura.

Later that day

"When did we agree to let them join us?" The lazy genius asked his team. "They are so troublesome." He added as he got pushed to the side of his cramped tent. Since the Akatsuki had no tents, and they threatened to kill the still-loyal ninja if they didn't share, all of the Konoha-nin had to squeeze in their tents. Not all of them had brought tents with them and so it was more cramped than it should have been.

I chose to sleep outside the tent, as there was only one for the girls and one for the boys. While the females travelling with us were snug and free to breath, since there were only three of them in one large tent, the males had to hold their breaths and sick in their guts to fit. In the only tent they had, other than the one the girls were using, there were fifteen males crushed together to sleep.

Akamaru, the dog, was lucky according to my fellow Akatsuki and a few of the males from Konoha. He got to sleep in the cosy and spacious tent with the girls. I was quick about reminding them that his 'luck' also caused the dog to sleep in the same tent as the blonde banshee. They never got jealous of the dog after that little statement.

A shift of the zip from the girls' tent alerted me to the fact of one exiting in the middle of the night. She approached me and I shifted my eyes quickly, only to stun a weak ex-heiress and cause her to gasp in surprise. I scoffed at her obvious show of weakness and sighed. Hoping that she could take a hint and leave, I looked away from her and closed my eyes. Her chakra remained in place, as did she, and I re-opened my blood-red orbs to stare at her.

She wasn't an ugly girl. In fact, she was quite pretty, just not my type. Her hair was a nice colour of midnight blue and her eyes were the usual, blank lavender of her clan. Only, her eyes were not so blank. They betrayed her by displaying every emotion, from sadness to joy, and always seemed too soft. She was weak and I had eyes for only one girl. This pathetic excuse for a Hyuuga was never going to deter my attentions from Sakura, no matter what she looked like. The Hyuuga girl could have been a goddess of beauty and love, get I would never see her as anything more than a daisy, wilting in the shadow of my amazing cherry blossom tree.

"H-Hello." She stuttered.

"Hn."

"I-I was w-wondering why you w-were out here and n-not in the t-tent with the o-other boys."

"Hn." A conversation with this stuttering wreck was not on my to-do list and I didn't plan on letting her continue it. Hopefully, she would take a hint and leave. She did not.

"I-I know what y-you think of m-me." She confessed. "Y-You believe me to b-be a w-weak little girl who d-doesn't deserve to b-be a ninja. A f-few years ago, I might have agreed w-with y-you about t-that. H-However, my friends, T-Tenten-chan, I-Ino-chan and T-Temari-chan have helped m-me built up m-more self-confidence."

"Why should I care about this?" I asked harshly. She winced slightly at my tone and I inwardly smirked.

"T-The person who helped my the m-most was my closest friend though. I t-think that you know her. S-Sakura-chan." My eyes hardened and became distant at the sound of my cherry blossom's name leave her lips. She didn't even deserve to say that name. She was too weak to even mutter one syllable of the name belonging to the strongest konoichi alive.

"_Never_ say her name." I commanded coldly. "You do not deserve to."

"I-I see." She said knowingly. This girl had, even if by accident, captured my slight interest by her tone. "Y-You are in l-love with h-her." She stated casually, with a small hint of nervousness. I stood up and walked away, hearing her sigh as I walked past. "B-By the w-way, my n-name is H-Hyuuga Hinata." I stopped and threw her a frozen look across my shoulder.

"Why should I care?" I questioned. She didn't shake or crawl back in fear though. Instead, the girl just smiled and laughted a little.

"You shouldn't, but I-I happen to k-know that S-Sakura-chan is i-in love with s-someone t-too. I just h-haven't f-found out who y-yet." She concluded as she walked back inside her tent. I didn't move, but chose to ponder her words for a while.

Sakura, _my_ Sakura, might be in love with someone other than me. It was obvious that she had many admirers, but I could kill them off like flies. If she liked someone else though, it might seem a bit odd for him to 'mysteriously' disappear one night and then I tell her about my feelings. No, it wouldn't do for an Uchiha to seem so desperate for his love, so he would kill anyone who threatened his chances with her.

"Hey!" Someone, another female, called to me. I turned my head again and saw some woman with brown hair and brown eyes. Her hair wasn't very long, only reaching to her shoulders, but her eyes were full of sincerity and kindness. Yet another reason why I had only ever been attracted to Sakura. Every other girl in the world showed her emotions though her actions and every other konoichi showed it though their eyes.

"What?" I spat at her.

"Ouch, no need to bite my head off! I'm Tenten, Sakura's friend." The girl, Tenten, stated. I glared coldly at her. Another weak girl who didn't deserve to speak Sakura's name.

"I do not care." I said coolly.

"Well, I care. Hinata told me that you're in _love_ with Sakura-chan, and I happen to know she holds a liking for you too. Whether it's love or not, I haven't got a clue. Only Ino could tell you that, but she's too scared of you to take a step in your direction."

"Is there a point to your interruption of my thoughts?"

"Yes! I just wanted to tell you something. When we find Sakura, if you tell her your feelings and they're not real or you hurt her, I will personally seek you out and kill…um…do something very, very bad to you." She concluded, knowing that she couldn't kill me if she tried with all her might after training until I was a frail old man.

"Anything else?"

"Nope! Goodnight, Uchiha-kun!" She called, running to her tent.

"Tenten-san," I called to her respectively. She turned her head and cocked it to the side slightly. "Never _ever_ call me with a '-Kun'." She just smiled and retracted her head, ruining my plans of throwing a kunai in it. Her smile was just so much like the Hyuuga girl's. It was as if these girls knew something I didn't and it was really starting to bug me.

"At least I don't have to worry about the blonde coming out here too. She's too scared." I mumbled to myself.

"You know, talking to yourself is a sign of insanity." Stated an all too familiar voice from my right. I hadn't even felt a chakra coming close and yet, here she was. Her pink hair was blowing around in the wind and her emerald eyes gleamed in a mysterious secretive way that only Sakura could master. I wanted to run to her, but that would have been too uncharacteristic for me. I did the next best thing and tried to take her hand in my own.

I reached out, slowly and carefully as if she was glass and I could break her with too much force, and took her wrist. She smirked at me and placed her arm around my neck. That was when I felt a cold blade be placed on the back of my neck. My eyes flashed dangerously. Whoever this was had tried to get to me by impersonating Sakura. I could sense the chakra of this woman now, and it was defiantly not my team mate.

"Unhand me, woman." I demanded coldly. She seemed to recoil at my words, or so it would seem to anyone watching from behind me. If you stood behind her though you would see the true reason for her partial retreat. A kunai was now lodged deeply into her back. It was a fatal wound, the likes of which only Tsunade or Sakura could heal, and it was draining her chakra.

The Henge released and I saw the sound note on her forehead protector. That was all I needed to see before I twisted the kunai in her back and yanked it out with ease, causing her to crumple to the floor in a heap of dead meat and bones. Hopefully the wolves would make a meal out of her and I wouldn't have to worry about her body.

"We have to go." I called into the tent the males were in. they all rose and rubbed their eyes, while the Hyuuga male walked to the females' tent to wake them too.

"Why are we leaving, it's the middle of the night!" The blonde haired demon complained loudly.

"I was attacked by a sound-nin. We need to get away before reinforcements come." I informed them.

"Another reason too." Kiba, the smelly mutt, stated. His dog, Akamaru, seemed to perk up as he sniffed the air.

"What?" The bug-nin questioned, staring at the grumpy and no longer hyper Tobi kicking trees and throwing kunai at noisy birds. He wasn't really a morning, or in this case middle of the night, person.

"I picked up a really strong sent. One that I could trace for miles on end." He stated with a wolfish grin.

"Whose scent is it, Inuzuka?" My brother asked the dog.

"Sakura."


	46. Chapter Forty Five

Chapter Forty Five

"You are _really_ heavy." Sakura complained as she shifted the male on her shoulder so that he wasn't slipping off any more. He sighed and rolled his eyes, still trying to struggle against the chakra-enhanced bonds that had been placed around him to enable his movement. A soft growl erupted from the throat of the woman and he stopped. Another female, this one being around twelve years younger and called by the name of Terrane, giggled at the exchange.

"You wouldn't have to carry me if you untied me, you know." Sai retorted, still slightly uncomfortable with the idea of being carried by his female captor when he was meant to be the one capturing _her_. Now he was really starting to regret helping those kids from the sand-nin. If he hadn't helped them, he would be back in his father's camp with Sakura and not travelling to some distant temple.

"I think that it's funny!" One of the twins said, grinning widely, as the other laughed and patted his brother's shoulder in agreement. The oldest boy of the Haruno siblings just scoffed and rolled his eyes as the youngest over all giggled again.

"We should stop soon, just so that you guys can get a rest and I can drop this heavy meat-bag." Sakura stated, half-jokingly.

"If I'm so heavy, why don't you just-? Oof!" Sai was interrupted in his rant by being carelessly dropped to the ground by a bored-looking beauty. She grinned coyly at him and walked to her sister to help the younger girl with her bag. He grumbled as he tried to sit up, not succeeding in his plight.

"Saku-nee-chan, can you tell me about your big brother again?" Karene, the oldest boy of the five Harunos, asked curiously. He was obviously intrigued by the stories of the male named Sosei. Sakura sighed and smiled genuinely at her younger siblings, signalling them to crowd around for another story. Sai had heard many of these so far, and now knew the extent of Sakura's love for her brother. She would travel to the end of the Earth to keep her promise of reuniting with him, and he knew it.

"Okay, which one do you want to hear?" She questioned them. She received four simultaneous answers, all different, and sighed again. "How about we have a little contest to decide which story to tell?"

"Hai!" The siblings replied.

"I'm thinking of a number between one and ten. If you guess it right, or are the closest to it, you pick the story. Terrane?"

"Is it…thirteen?" She asked innocently.

"Thirteen isn't between one and ten stupid." One of the twins said meanly, but only meaning to gently tease his younger sister.

"Meany! Is it…four?" She tried again.

"Ryiko?" Sakura prompted.

"Um…Eight!" He said proudly.

"Tyiko?" The pinkette said, turning to the twin who had teased his sister.

"One." He replied, exited about the prospect of a story.

"Okay and last one. Karene?"

"I think its…five?" He asked.

"And the winner is…Karene! It was indeed five!" She told him happily. "What story do you want to hear kiddo?"

"How about…one we haven't heard?" He asked.

"I could tell you about the time beat some boy to a pulp for picking on me." She suggested.

"Yeah!"

"Okay, it started on a Wednesday, when I was three and he was seven…"

_**Flash Back**_

_Sakura ran in the direction of her house after nin-nursery, where they were taught how to interact with different people. In other words, they were just there to play and make friends. She had drawn a picture and wanted her mother and father to see it, as well as her brother._

_Just as she was turning the corner to run down the road connected to hers, she bumped into a boy two years older than her. He had blonde hair and brown eyes. Sakura shook her head and began to get up from the ground, when the boy pushed her back and laughed when she landed with a hard 'thud'. Tears formed in the emerald eyes of the smaller girl and she began to sob from the pain in her back, which grew after falling twice._

"_What do you think you're doing to my little shisuta?" Asked a calm, yet severely angry, voice from behind the bully. The blonde turned to see an older boy a few feet away, his vivid, crimson-red hair blowing fiercely in the wind as his sharp green eyes spelled bloody murder. The slightly younger boy began to shake and stutter out excuses, but the Haruno heir ignored him and turned to his sister._

"_He pushed me and started to laugh." She said, answering his unasked question with a sniffle and suppressed sob. Sosei turned, once again, to the now-fleeing bully and ran at him. A hard fist collided with the blonde's face and sent him reeling back in pain._

"_Say you're sorry." Sosei demanded coldly, gesturing towards his younger sister._

"_I-I'm s-sorry." The boy stuttered. Sosei scoffed and glared at the boy as he ran away. He turned to his sister again and softened with a smile. She grinned back and showed him her picture as he walked the rest of the way home with her._

_**End Flash Back**_

"…the end." Sakura finished with a smile. He siblings clapped and grinned back at her. Sai just rolled his eyes and rolled on his side, trying to turn away from the group of family. He, in truth, knew this story to be true. Sosei told this story to him many times before he left, with a switched point of view of course.

He felt a pressure on his right shoulder, the one facing the sky, and looked at it. Hinichi had perched herself atop his shoulder and was currently digging her talons into his flesh. To save what little pride he had left, Sai remained silent throughout the torture. Smelling the blood, Toro also crawled over to him, soon followed by her mother-like wolf friend, Morokie. The two, in an animal language foreign to him, convinced the hawk to leave him be and fly around the woods.

"I'm hungry!" Sai called arrogantly.

"I'm Haruno Sakura." The petal-haired girl replied victoriously and with a smirk.

"I'm Haruno Ryiko." One of the twins said, mimicking his sister.

"I'm Haruno Terrane." The second female of the group declared. That was the last of the answers, since the other two weren't around at the time. They were busily hunting with Hinichi.

"Haha!" Sai said sarcastically. "I had _no idea_ the Haruno family were so _hilarious_."

"Why are we hilarious?" Karene asked curiously, getting back to the camp with a wild boar slung over his shoulder. His brother followed after him, only he had a live hawk perched on his shoulder rather than a dead meal.

"No real reason. Nice catch." Sakura complimented.

"Thanks. Hinichi did most of the hunting though." He replied as the bird tilted its head in a form of bow.

A few hours passed and the meat had been cooked and eaten, Sai only receiving a small portion of the catch for his meal. The younger people, Karene, Tyiko, Ryiko and Terrane, had already gone to bed and now Sai and Sakura were the only ones left awake. The former was considering starting up a conversation with the female, but the fact of him getting knocked out last time he had tried briefly came to mind.

"Hey, Sakura?" He called, ignoring the slightly frightening though.

"What?" She asked him, walking over to where he was lying.

"Can you pick me up so that I can talk to you? Just into a sitting position." He wondered. The female sighed and hoisted him into the requested position, making sure he wouldn't fall, and sat back against a tree stump to get herself comfortable as well.

"Better?" She asked.

"Much, thank you." He said in return. Sakura just acknowledged him with a tilt of her head. "Why do you speak so fondly of you brother?" He asked after a few minuets of silence.

"If this is going to turn into another 'he betrayed a lot of people and is now the scum of the Earth' conversations, you can drop it right here and now. I don't want to have to carry you again because you couldn't keep your mouth shut about my brother for five minuets." She declared harshly.

"No, nothing like that. I was just curious." He admitted.

"Well, my brother was always my hero when I was growing up. He was popular, strong and kind. I always wanted to be just like him when I got older. After all, my brother always protected me and kept me safe, even from the tiniest things. If I was scared if a spider, he would take it away. If someone upset me, he would make them apologise. I love my brother for all of those reasons." Sakura confessed blankly, as if she was reciting a speech for a funeral. It was sad to see her upset about the disappearance of her brother, but, when she saw him again, her joy would return ten-fold.

"You really love him, huh?" Sai asked, scoffing a little. "I bet he's the only boy ever to receive that kind of love from you. You're just the pretty heart-breaker type." The male remarked.

"Wrong. I always loved Naruto and Lee like my brothers. Sasuke was my first crush, but I later found that he was more of a friend. Tenten, Hinata, Temari and Ino are like my sisters. Not to mention Terrane, Karene, Tyiko and Ryiko." She told him.

"What about further love? Like…more than family?" Sai questioned sneakily.

"Yes, but it's not you." She declared with a smirk. "His name is Itach-" Sakura suddenly stopped her confession and shot up from the ground, looking all around her in panic.

"What is it?" Sai asked.

"We're being tracked. A lot of people are coming this way and I don't really want to be found just yet. Come on!" She said as she pulled him off the ground and threw him over her shoulder. "GET UP KIDDIES!" She called to her family. "We have to go!"

"Why, nee-chan?" Tyiko asked sleepily.

"Konoha and the Akatsuki are on their way here, right now."


	47. Chapter Forty Six

Chapter Forty Six

I ran on all fours behind my mistress. Toro, my daughter-figure, was running to the right of me and Hinichi, one of my best friends, was flying above. My pink-haired mistress was, once again, carrying the arrogant male, but not once complaining about his weight. I knew the reason, as did my animal companions. We were being followed by her old friends and she didn't want to face them until she had found her brother.

Toro wasn't too happy about running away from them, but that was only because she had a feeling of like towards the canine companion of our mistress's dog-like friend. I wasn't too happy about this, as my motherly instincts kicked in about it, but Akamaru was a good dog and could take care of her.

"Morokie," My mistress called to me. "Take care of the twins." She said. I bowed my head in response, willing to take responsibility for the human boys' lives. If my mistress was fond of them, then they were friends of mine and I would protect the two males with my life. She next asked Toro to look after Karene and Hinichi to watch for Terrane. It was heart warming to see my owner love for these younglings after years of coldness in the bad-smelling place with the humans who wore red clouds on their clothing.

The human male complained once more about being carried, but I growled at him to shut him up. It worked when he closed his mouth tightly and didn't speak another words. My mistress threw me a grateful look and I bowed my head once more. She was satisfied with my work and I was glad for that. If my lady was happy then I was content in her own positive emotion.

"We'll rest here. I can't sense the others too close by." My owner stated smartly. She dropped the male to the floor and walked to her kin to see of they were okay after the fast-pace we were travelling at. I sauntered over to see the other animal-nin present and sat down next to Toro. Hinichi soon soared down and landed on a low branch near to us and I sighed in relief to see my younger companions were okay.

"That was a tiring run." The almost fully-grown, but still childish, tiger stated.

"Indeed it was young one." I replied. Hinichi spread he wings and yawned, obviously tired from all of her flying. I had often wondered if it was more tiresome to fly than run, but didn't remain on this though for long.

"The mistress seems quite distressed by this turn of events." Hinichi commented. "The temple is but two days from here and the war will commence in less than a week. I do hope she chooses the right side."

"Do not panic, my winged friend. She had a smart mind and will know what to do when the time comes." I told the bird. She nodded and flew to the male human, who seemed to be sleeping.

"Do you know what will happen, Ookami-Kaa-san?" Toro asked me, using the nickname 'wolf mother' to call me as she usually did.

"Nothing drastic or horrifying, I hope otome-tora." I replied, calling her 'daughter-tiger'. This was the bond we shared. She would call me 'Ookami-Kaa-san', while I would call her 'otome-tora'. Hinichi and I had a different bond though. Although I would call her by her name, she would call me waizu-Ookami, meaning 'wise wolf', or Morokie-sama, to show her respect towards me. It is true that I never asked her for this respect, but, being the older out of Toro and her, she respected me as her older and wiser. I would always be the wise, old wolf to her, and she would always be one of my truest friends.

We were the family the other never had. Toro lost her mother and father when she was a young cub, Hinichi was taken from her nest as an infant and forced into training as a mail hawk by the hidden sand village and I was ripped from my cubs as they were slaughtered before my eyes for their skins before I was thrown aside. The humans responsible for the murder of my cubs had decided that my fur was unusable, since no one wanted to wear white fur and my eight cubs were black or grey.

Our mistress found us each separately and rescued us. She had found Toro a year after she discovered me, wandering around a hunter's territory and took her in just before the gaming season was to begin, literally saving her life. When a message from Suna was intercepted by the Akatsuki, our kind lady took Hinichi and fed her after months of starvation, where as the other humans were ready to throw her aside as a waste. I was the first one she found, on her way to join the humans wearing black and red. At first, I had felt threatened by the humans, but she had calmed me and taken me in like I was as precious to her as she is to the three of us.

"Waizu-ookami?" Hinichi called from above me.

"Yes, Hinichi?" I asked in response.

"If you wish to rest, I will take watch over the humans and our lady for you." She offered kindly, in her gentle, child-like voice. Hinichi was the youngest of us and needed more protection in my eyes, but she could defend herself and everyone around her when the time calls for it.

"I am fine, young bird. However, if you could be so kind as to watch over the humans and the mistress while I take a walk though the woods, I would greatly appreciate it." I said.

"Of course, waizu-ookami." She responded. I stood on my frail legs and walked slowly into the cover of the trees, where I stood and breathed deeply. If Hinichi or Toro saw my weakened state, they would worry for me. Hinichi did always say I was old and wise, but the former of the two was forever becoming more apparent to me. The usual life span for a wolf like me was up to ten years. I had already lived out nine years and three months of that and it was beginning to catch up to me by weakening my body. I knew that I did not have very much time left, but would be content to the next life in my lady found her brother before I passed.

"There is no place in this world for an old wolf like me, young one." I said sadly as I looked at Toro curl up with my lady and fall asleep. "However, I will protect you until my time passes."

The woods became darker with every passing minuet and my eyelids became heavier. Eventually, I would need to sleep or I would be weaker for travel the next day. Giving up my star-gazing, I wandered back to the camp and sat in my old spot, looking up and the weary bird perched on her 'watch-branch'.

"Hinichi, you are tired. You must rest soon." I told her.

"I am afraid I must disobey you this time, Morokie-sama. You need the rest more-so than I, and I can just perch upon the shoulder of one of the humans when we travel tomorrow. You need your rest, my lady wolf, and I would be most appreciative if you heeded my advice." She replied respectively.

"Yes, young Sparrow-hawk, I believe you speak in truths. I am quiet tired and most appreciate your advice. Good night." I said, bidding farewell to the Japanese sparrow-hawk.

"Good night, waizu-ookami." She said to me as I curled up beside her tree and fell asleep.

When I opened my icy-blue eyes in the morning, I felt the sun on my fur and the wind rushing past my face. The feeling of being carried caused me to become alert and I looked into the face of my lady, who smiled down at me. I was in her arms as she ran with the bonded male over both of her shoulders. She was obviously having slight trouble going fast enough while carrying us both, so I jumped from her arms and ran by her side for a while. She smiled again and sifted the male into a better position, now able to speed up a bit.

I slowed my pace so that I could match with Toro and Hinichi flew into the front to take over my guard duty there. I inwardly thanked her, since it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to hasten my speed, and ran by the side of Toro.

"Are you okay, Ookami-Kaa-san?" The young tiger asked me with concern lacing her every word.

"I am fine, otome-tora, just a little tired in my old age." I responded with a gentle gaze resting on the, soon to be larger than me, creature. She was smaller than I was at her age now, but, as soon as she was finished with her growth, she would be twice my size, as was the proper size for all tigers.

The run continued throughout the day and into the night, when one of the copy-humans, or 'twins' as my mistress called them, told her of their weariness and she declared a time for rest. the temple was close now and we could reach it the next day. I still had enough time in life to see it to the holy place and the war's beginning, I believe, but travel was beginning to skin days from my life. However, I had lived my life fully and wouldn't be saddened by the loss of it.

As I settled down for sleep that night, with Toro agreeing to take the guard duty from me, I could only think of seeing the human my lady was so attached to and the smell of a big, white dog approaching the camp swiftly.


	48. Chapter Forty Seven

Chapter Forty Seven

It seems as if the ex-Akatsuki pinkette had noticed our presence and was not happy about it. She had taken off as soon as she caught wind of us coming for her and now we couldn't keep up or follow fast enough, not really a surprise when you think about it. We, the Akatsuki, and the Konoha ninja were forced to set up camp again until mutt-face could pick up another scent. I would hate to see something happen to my 'little shisuta' without me being able to do anything to help or save her.

Sure, she was a big girl, twenty-years-old, now, but she was still a little girl who needed protecting from all of the worlds dangers! If I couldn't protect her, Itachi couldn't protect her and no one else was worthy to even know her, in my own opinion, she was alone in a world of scum and stupidity. The Akatsuki may be criminals, but we're not as bad as half of the perverts out there.

Sakura was a baby sister to me, and a good friend, possibly more, to the others. It wasn't fair that she should be the one to get tangled up in this mess when we could be in the base with ice cream right now. Getting kidnapped and leaving on a mission to find her brother, just before a war was to begin, wasn't in her original plan. She had told me, during one of our brother-sister talks, about her aspirations.

_**Flashback**_

"_Ne, Kisame-kun." Sakura called to me, her brotherly figure, as she entered my room shyly. I looked up from my book, yes I can read, to see her sad eyes glued to the floor._

"_Saku-chan? Come in. what is it that you need?" I asked her as kindly as I could, which was quite hard considering the gruffness of my voice. She sighed and sat on down next to me on my bed as I sat up so I could speak with her properly._

"_What do you want to do with your life, Kisame-kun?" She questioned bluntly. I considered my answer for a moment before turning to her with a grin plastered over my shark-like face._

"_Easy, I want to become the most feared missing-nin from the village hidden in the mist ever! So far, I'm only in second place, but I'll become the scariest in no time with __**my**__ reputation." I told her. "What about you?" She sighed after my question had been asked and sucked on her bottom lip slightly, a habit she and Hidan shared when they got into bad situation or were thinking._

"_I…do you promise you wont laugh if I tell you?" She enquired. I nodded and she sighed again. "I want to…have a family. You know a bit about my brother, but that's not what I mean. I want to be a mother, a wife…someone to love and be loved back. The whole 'scary criminal' thing was never really my choice of a future." Sakura declared with a third sigh._

_**End Flashback**_

That was the most absurd thing I had ever heard. It does, however, make sense to me more and more as the days with Konoha progress. A smirk met my face as I remembered my plan after she told me that.

_**Flashback**_

_I grinned, seeing this as my moment to play match-maker between her and Itachi. If she wanted a family, why not with the clan-murdering psychopath, who happens to be one of my best friends?_

…

_Maybe that wasn't the best way to put it, but I know he likes her, she likes him too. It would make my day of I could set them up. If they became a couple, Itachi wouldn't mope around and hit me so much and Sakura would have her old spark back. It was the perfect plan!_

"_So…do you have anyone in mind for the whole 'family' thing yet?" I asked her casually. She looked at me with her cool, calculating eyes, seemingly trying to decipher my reasons for asking._

"…_no…" She answered uneasily and with some hesitation._

"_What about someone from this base? Say…Itachi, maybe?" I said coyly. If she had been drinking something, she would have choked and spat the liquid all over the floor. However, the expression on her face was priceless enough that no amount of drink-spitting could ever enhance its hilarity._

_Sakura's face had turned cherry red and her eyes were wide. Her jaw slacked and hung open slightly while she stuttered and attempted to form a sentence without giving away any emotions she might have for the Uchiha murderer._

_**End flashback**_

Prior to contrary belief, I am, in fact, smart enough to know of my partner's love for her. Itachi just wasn't very good when it came to him trying to stop the 'gossip' or him denying it.

All of his tricks and give-aways about it were well known to me. If he was angry, he would clench and unclench his fist every now and then while gritting his teeth slightly. If he was lying, he would blink twice each time instead of once. When he had feelings for someone, which was only shown around Sakura or while someone was speaking about her near him, he would casually scratch his cheek and avert his eyes, trying to glare at anything he possibly could. Trust me; I know he's in love.

"Kisame, we're getting ready to go now. Hurry up, yeah!" Deidara called to me, myself replying with a loud grumble.

As I walked out of the tent I almost laughed when I saw the blonde banshee drooling over my, now uncloaked, dark-haired partner. However, she also seemed to cower in fear of him at the same time.

"Yo, Itachi! Need some help over there?" I asked him. He just glared at me in return and I sighed, grinning from gill to gill.

My blue feet moved, causing me to stride in the direction of the cowering/drooling girl and hover over her with an intimidating growl. She squeaked and rushed off, leaving Itachi and I to discuss our plan of action with the other Akatsuki present, excluding loud-mouthed Tobi of course.

"_Okay_,"Zetsu's light side began. "_We need to think of what to do with these Konoha ninja when we find Sakura-san._" He stated. The rest of us just nodded in agreement with the plant-man. "**Why don't we just kill them and eat their livers?**" Questioned the darker side of the Venus-fly-trap.

"We can't kill them; that would be too suspicious. Yet, we need a way to get rid of them, yeah." Deidara commented. "I say we threaten to kill the mutt-man, yeah." He concluded with a nod, as all of us heard the aforementioned mutt sneeze somewhere inside the camp, little murmurs of agreement passed though the eight of us, proving our group-wide discontented feeling towards the dog-obsessed ninja.

"No." Itachi said, bringing the attention to him. He sighed as a spotlight, from nowhere, shone down on him and the rest of the scene, people and background, faded into nothing. He sighed while Tobi began to complain about not liking the dark. Hidan just scoffed and shouted that he wanted more screen time.

"Could the authoress stop messing with the lighting please?" Naruto questioned from behind the set. The authoress laughed sheepishly and the lighting went back to normal, showing everyone in their surroundings once again.

"As I was saying, we cannot threaten anyone who is close to her or we might loose Sakura-ch…Sakura again." He finished, correction his previous slip of tongue and settling for no honorific that would show his feelings towards my 'shisuta'.

Sighed when I picked up on this, I knew for sure that he should just come out and state his true feelings for the pink-haired girl, to her if at all possible. If he did, then most, but not all, of his competition would concede to him.

I knew that Sasori liked her too, just not as much. For the puppeteer, she was more of a crush/temporary infatuation. Besides, he would loose interest in her romantically when she found someone else and resort to a relationship much like the one I have with her. He would always be more of a 'big-brother' to the konoichi than a 'love-interest'. The Konoha-nin liked her as well, but still not as much as Itachi and mostly just in a brotherly was.

Itachi, despite what most would believe, knew he would have a hard time confessing his feelings to her. Killing someone, easy. Torturing, piece of cake. Confessing his love…he would rather stick to the first two. Even after all his years of girls chasing him, he had little-to-no experience with the opposite-sex.

Not counting his mother and female relatives, since no one would in the first place, I doubt a girl has even kissed him before. The thought is laughable really. A twenty two year old who hadn't even experienced their first kiss!

"HIDAN-KUN!" A loud voice, with a British accent, screamed as a teenage girl ran up to the religious man and held him in a tight embrace. She had straight, dark brown, almost black, hair, which brushed her shoulders in length, and stormy grey eyes, framed with curled black lashes.

"H-Hello…?" Hidan answered the teen. In all honesty, she didn't look like she had even passed her sixteenth birthday. However, the girl was defiantly above the age of thirteen already.

"Oh! I'm Shadow Quil, the one writing this story. Call me Shadow-chan!" She explained with an extremely large grin. "I just wanted to let the readers know, since they'd never read the authors note if I used one, that I'm planning on killing off one of the Akatsuki! You can vote on who it is, but it can _not_ be Itachi-kun or Kisame-kun…or Tobi-chan…or Dei-kun or Saso-chan. So, pick from Hidan-kun, Kakuzu-kun or Zetsu-chan! Bye now!" And, just as quickly as the strange girl appeared, she disappeared in a flash and went back to typing the story for her readers.

"She's going to…KILL ONE OF US!?" Kakuzu screamed as his life flashed before his eyes.

"Just ignore the weird-o authoress and get on with the plan!" Sasori demanded, slowly stepping away from the crying Kakuzu.

"You're _fine_. She said that they couldn't kill you!" Hidan complained, huffing a bit. A whirlwind appeared and the authoress appeared again.

"Hidan-kun is right! You can vote on anyone except Itachi-kun, since there's no end to this, already long, story without him, or Tobi-chan, since he's so CUTE!" She stated with a grin.

"What about the Konoha-nin, Shadow-chan?" Tobi, who had somehow come to join us after Shadow Quil appeared, asked cutely, obviously pouting under his mask.

"Hmmm. Vote on them too! I want to kill off three from Konoha, since there's so many of them, and one from the Akatsuki! It can't be Kiba-kun though, since I need him for the next few chapters, but it can, be anyone else you want! I'll kill him later if you _really_ want me to, but I'd rather not, since he's so cool! Bye!" Shadow Quil yelled as she ran off…again.

"Umm." Hidan said at a loss for words. Sasori, Deidara and I had run to a corner to worry about our future lives in this story, which were now at the merciless hands of the readers.

"Anyway, forget what just happened and carry on with the story now." Demanded a completely-recovered Sasori. Itachi was just smirking, knowing that he was safe, and Tobi was jumping for joy that the authoress had called him cute.

"Okay, we will kill three of the Konoha-nin and leave the rest to tend to their wounded. Then, we'll kidnap the smelly mutt and his dog and force them to track down Saku-chan for us, yeah! We should try to do all of this within the next few days too, yeah." Deidara suggested. Everyone agreed and the plan was all set out. They would kill three of the ninja, yet to be decided upon whom, and track Sakura with a threatened dog-nin. It was the perfect plan.

"What's going on over here?" Asked a bored voice. I looked up from my huddled position against a tree and saw the strategic genius of Konoha watching us with his calculating gaze. That look, I knew, was full of suspicion and we would have to avoid it whenever possible.

"We were discussing the reasons for Hidan, Kakuzu and Tobi joining us on our hunt for Sakura." I lied easily. If the genius noticed the not-very-obvious lie, he didn't say anything and just walked away.


	49. Chapter Forty Eight

Chapter Forty Eight

No one made a sound as the group of six humans, accompanied by three animals, made their way towards the gates of the temple Tarento at a steady pace. The temple was in sight now and Sakura couldn't stop herself from picking up speed little by little until she was full-out sprinting, causing Sai to close his eyes to stop the wind and dirt blowing into them and blinding him. Sakura, however, took no heed of the wind and was at the gates in a matter of seconds.

The four younger Haruno siblings, guided by the beasts of air and land, arrived a few minuets after her. Sakura let her emerald eyes bleed into the purple bloodline limit she was famous for, as a rippling effect left silver circles around her silver pupil. Sai had to stifle a gasp, as this was the first time he had seen her Zoneingan. Sure, he had heard of it, but never in his life did he think it would look like this. Of course he was fully aware of the physical appearance of the limit, but the eyes looked like a mix of a promised death and painful past.

Sakura dropped the Neboutoshi spy unceremoniously onto the cold, hard ground and scanned the area with her predatory eyes. The quick movements of her purple orbs could be comparable to that of a hawk; she was truly a hunter of great standards. A flash of movement caught the attention of the four younger children and the rebel, but was completely ignored by the assassin, the tiger, the wolf and the hawk. Never, not since his father had told him of her all those years ago and after the stories Sosei told him, did he picture Sakura to be able to look so calm while also giving off a look that showed she was ready to kill.

"Toku-Kai." Sakura muttered under her breath. Once again, Sai tried to stop himself from gasping as hundreds of people appeared before him, all armed and poised for battle. The words Sakura had said, 'shield-release', had obviously undone a type of jutsu that allowed the caster, or casters, to become invisible. A sort of see but not seen arrangement. All the pink haired woman did was smirk and drop a necklace on the ground. Sai craned his neck to see it, but her siblings seemed uninterested in the small gem.

When Sai caught sight of the jewellery he just stared at it like it was nothing, and then at Sakura like she was insane. The necklace was just an amethyst gem, once side a lilac colour while the other was a darker shade of purple, attached to a black leather cord. Beautiful as it may be, it was nothing special. He couldn't even sense any chakra infused with it or a sign of it being a weapon. However, the small pendant made every single person from the temple gasp and lower their weapons, bowing their heads to Sakura as she gathered the pendant again and flashed her purple, which were now slowly fading back into green, at them.

One man, who seemed rather frail and old, stepped forward and took Sakura's left hand, bowing his head. Sakura returned the gesture in a way that caused Sai more surprise than he had been in all day. The deadly assassin took the elderly mans hand, the one that was holding hers, and knelt on one knee before him, with her head lowered to the ground. It was as if this man was a person who demanded respect without even voicing his requests. Green eyes look onto the face of the old man and she smiled. A true smile that would have made any fan-boy of hers faint from the sight and even caused a few of the young men from the temple blush. However, it was the point when Sakura rose from her position and hugged the man before her gently that caused Sai to almost have a heart attack. Many who had witnessed the occurrence that day would have to admit that it was quite comical.

"I missed you, Sakura-chan." The old man stated with a small, withered smile gracing his commanding features. He wore a simple, white mage's robe with brown decoration adorning it. The robe was buttoned from top to bottom at the front with golden hems to his sleeves, which overlapped his fingertips slightly, and also around the bottom of the robe, which barely touched the ground. His collar was tall around his neck, but remained low at the front for a distance about the size of his chin. On his feet he wore brown sandals, but not in the style of a ninja. It was obvious that this man was the head priest of the temple, but his relationship with Sakura was not so obvious.

"It's good to see you again, ojiisan (grandfather)." Sakura replied, with relief evident in her voice for the old mans safety. Perhaps her clothing wasn't the best to be visiting a temple in, since she still wore her ANBU uniform, the mask sitting over her shoulder, tied around her neck. She bowed once more as a sign of respect to the older man and he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, telling her silently to rise. Sakura stood to her full height, which was much taller than the man, who only reached her shoulder. Attaching the necklace around her neck again, Sakura grabbed Sai dropped him in front of her for her grandfather to see.

"Hm? Who is this young man you have…dropped before me my dear granddaughter?" The old man questioned. Many whispers had begun to travel though the temple, like questions of how the old man was related to the young beauty and why she had only just come back to the temple now, rather than when she was needed. The last point caught Sai's attention, since they were saying that she had been here before.

"His name is Neboutoshi Sai and he has been following me. I captured him and brought him here, to your temple, for you to judge what I do with him ojiisan." Sakura stated. A young man, who looked to be about three or four years older than Karene, stepped out from among the crowds that had gathered more people. The fourteen-year-old made a bee-line straight for Sakura and stopped to the right of her, glaring with malice and a hint of respect. He took Sakura's bicep in his hand and gritted his teeth when she made no movements to show pain, not even a small wince or cringe. The most she showed was a spark of annoyance in her emerald eyes as she slowly turned her head to look at him.

"You've come back." The younger teen stated, pointing out the obvious to everyone present. He only wore a simple brown shirt, tied closed with a black sash, and some brown shorts that went down to his knees. His feet were left bare and had a thin coat of dirt on the soles, but Sakura didn't even pass a glance at his appearance. She merely looked him in the eye, not even resorting to her Zoneingan to back her up, and he let her go, taking a few steps back. His glare was only increased when she returned her attention to her grandfather, obviously ignoring him.

"I have returned for one purpose only, Hasha." Sakura told him, still not giving him even the slightest show of respect by turning her head to look at him. By refusing to acknowledge her presence, she was saying that he was lower than scum or not even worth her time. The latter was forcefully implied while the former was lined within her words. Without paying the boy any heed, Sakura beckoned her siblings forward and presented them to her grandfather in a more elegant manner than she had done for Sai.

"What charming children." The old man praised.

"These are my adopted siblings. Karene, Ryiko, Tyiko and Terrane." She told him, gesturing to the four respectively. The old man's eye twinkled in delight when he learned of there bond with his grandchild and he bowed slightly when they gracefully knelt before him with bowed heads, just as Sakura had done without holding his hand.

"So I have mew grandchildren. I though at first I was blessed with a powerful granddaughter and a kind grandson, but now I have another granddaughter and three more grandsons to be proud of. Hope for the future of you four now lives in my soul alongside the hope I hold for Sakura and Sosei. Rise children of the spring." He said.

"Katei (family), meet your grandfather, Haruno Saishi." Sakura introduced with much respect for her family.

"Call me 'ojiisan', alright?" Saishi requested of the youngling. They nodded and he turned to Sakura once more, who was still ignoring 'Hasha'.

"Ojiisan, is…is Sosei here?" Sakura asked him hopefully. The priest was about to answer her, but was interrupted by another man shoving his way though the crowd, not caring for who he pushed aside and only for the one he would find when he got to the end.

When the man, who had to be in his mid-to-late twenties, saw Sakura, his eyes widened. Sakura just took in his features with astonished eyes, which were filling with tears of relief. The man's blood-red hair was long enough to brush his shoulders, but was tied at the back in a small ponytail, his bangs falling across his face in the slight breeze. His eyes were blue, like the ocean, and full of a hyperactive nature that had remained though his maturing and experience. His clothing was that of a monk, but with shows of being trained as a ninja. His robe, which stopped at his ankles, was forest green with a yin-yang on the chest and a brown sash tied around the waist. The bottom half of the robe had slits running up both sides until they reached the sash, and he had baggy white trousers underneath it. Gold lined the slits in the robe and the hems of the sleeves, which went to his knuckles and opened like a bell. His shoes, the traditional sandals of a ninja, were black and he wore a Hatei-ate around his forehead with the Haruno circle as the symbol for the centre.

"Sakura-chan!" He yelled as he embraced the petite konoichi, her returning his heart-filled hug with equal care.

"I missed you so much…Sosei-nii-san!"

_With Konoha and the Akatsuki_

"She should have reached the temple by now." The strategic genius stated lazily as the large group travelled further north; in the same direction Sakura had gone with her siblings, her animals and the basterd (Neboutoshi Sai).

"We need to hurry or we'll never catch up to her!" Ino yelled. The blonde, despite her fear and the multiple threats she had received, was travelling near to Itachi, while also close to her boyfriend, Choji. Itachi had noticed this a while ago and kept trying to subtly move away from the blonde banshee, as the Akatsuki had named her, but she only moved closer to him each time.

"What are you doing?!" Kiba yelled as Kakuzu threw a shuriken towards Naruto, the blonde dodging it and stopping in his tracks as another weapon flew in his direction. This time, he caught it and sent it back at the thrower, hitting Hidan in the arm. The damage was minimal, but the fight between the Akatsuki and Konoha had already begun.

Tobi was fighting against Naruto while Zetsu fought Sasuke, but only Sasuke and Zetsu able to make a hit on each other. Sasori, since he had conjured his puppets and drawn many of the Konoha-nin from the fights with his comrades, was facing Choji, Shikamaru and Ino. Deidara was flying in the air on his clay-bird, taking the fight with Choji, Shikamaru and Ino with Sasori, but mainly focusing on the style-stealing blonde konoichi. Kisame and Itachi were quite content in their shared battle with Lee, Neji and Tenten. Hidan and Kakuzu, for no reason other than the fact they were the only ones left to fight, had decided to fight against Shino, Hinata and Kiba.

Kisame took hold of his Samehada and swung it in a full, 360 degree circle, but only Neji and Lee managed to dodge it. Tenten was thrown back by the force and she hit a tree. The girl slumped down and didn't rise again after that, meaning she was either dead or unconscious. Neji continued to fight with Itachi, not noticing the loss of Tenten as he was too absorbed in his own battle. Lee, on the other hand, noticed straight away and was trying his best to get to his fiancé to check if she was okay or not. He was unsuccessful in his attempts as he soon joined her in a state of motionlessness on the ground, also a result of the Samehada hitting his side. Itachi activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and sent Neji into a world of black and red and pain. The two Akatsuki then waited for the others to finish, not wanting to disturb the other fights.

Sasuke and Naruto weren't having the same luck as Kisame and Itachi had, as Naruto had received many gashes and cuts from the mask-wearing criminal while Sasuke was ready to collapse. Zetsu seized the opportunity to deliver a punch to Sasuke's side, sending him crashing to Naruto and then the both of them flew into the middle of the fight with Hidan and Kakuzu. However, Zetsu became possessive over his fight and dragged them both back with chakra controlled weeds. Once they were back in the fight, Tobi chose this as a change to use his special jutsu. He clapped his hands together and formed the hand signs of the horse, the tiger and the bear before placing both his palms forward. At first, nothing happened, but soon a vortex of swirling chakra appeared in each hand, sucking in anything and everything. Just before Naruto and Sasuke got trapped in the void of his jutsu, Tobi stopped the chakra and the ninja fell to the ground in a heap of unmoving limbs. Smiling to himself, Tobi skipped over to Itachi and Kisame, Zetsu following after him.

An explosion blew Ino away from her team, but she didn't notice this as she ran into the trees, hoping that no one would find her. However, Deidara wanted revenge for when she had accused him of 'stealing her look' and calling him a girl. There was no way in hell that the nuke-nin would just let her go. Deidara found her and proceeded in creating a bomb he had invented just for her. He named it the I-bomb and it was shaped like a spider. He released it and the spider-like bomb crawled over to Ino, up her leg and onto her hip. The girl noticed the creature and muffled a scream, thinking it was real, before it exploded. The last thing into heard before her world turned black was a loud ringing in her ears and a smug laughter from above her. Sasori, however, had encased his opponents in his charka strings. Shikamaru got loose and used a shadow possession jutsu to make Sasori release Choji, which worked until the puppet-nin broke the jutsu and one of his puppets sliced Choji across the stomach, injecting him with a deadly poison to which only Sakura and Tsunade knew the cure. Shikamaru was then knocked out by and sharp blow to the base of his neck, courtesy of Deidara returning from his fight with the copy-cat.

The only fight left unfinished was the one Hidan and Kakuzu were fighting against Kiba, Shino and Hinata. The Hyuuga girl was already knocked out at the base of a tree and the bug-nin quickly avoided being sliced with Hidan's scythe. He had not, however, anticipated Kakuzu's weapon and it hit him in the shoulder blade, causing Shino to see flashes of pain in his covered eyes. He blacked out from the searing pain and that only left Kiba to go. The dog-nin was doing well, having no injuries to speak of and landing hit after hit on Kakuzu. The latter ninja had been in a fight before he had joined Itachi, Kisame, Sasori and Deidara on the hunt for Sakura, and many of his injuries were just old ones being reopened. This way, however, enough of a strain of the criminal to slow him down. Kiba deliver one quick kick to a stomach injury Kakuzu had received, which almost killed him than, and the ninja fell to the ground. Deidara saw this and stepped into the fight to make a proposal.

"Mutt-face, we can either kill you right here and now or you can help us find Saku-chan, yeah. It's your choice, yeah." Deidara said to the dog-nin, who was going to loose his own life if the battle continued at the rate it was going. He lowered his head and was about to yell back a reply, but froze at the words Sasori spoke.

"We could always kill this pale little Hyuuga girl. You're her team mate, are you not? You should really do what's best for her rather than being selfish and only thinking of yourself." The red-head stated coldly, pressing a kunai to the unconscious girl's neck. Despite Kiba not liking her as anything more than a friend, since she was married, pregnant and only allowed on this mission because it was deemed safe, he counted her as one of the closest friends he ever had, and he refused to let her die now.

"I…I'll do it. Let Hinata go, she's pregnant, for kami-sama's sake." Kiba said in a huff. He scowled at the puppet as he carelessly dropped Hinata to the ground, shoving her aside with his foot as he moved towards the ninja and placed something around his neck, much protest made by the Konoha-loyal-nin. Itachi noticed what it way and smirked.

"An obedience collar, eh?" Kisame questioned in amusement. "Basically, you have to obey our every command. How fitting for a mutt like you, right? Nice choice Sasori. Now, let's go and find Sakura-chan!" The Akatsuki and their hostage left, not realising that they had forgotten about Akamaru, the faithful tracking dog of the man they had just blackmailed.

"What about Kakuzu?" Hidan questioned. Zetsu cast a glance at the fallen mist-Akatsuki and walked over to his body. The plant first looked for a pulse, then checked his eyes for any response at all, but found none.

"Leave him, he's dead now anyway." Zetsu explained with a sigh. The plant got up and took a hold on Kiba's short hair, pulling him along until he was walking with his criminal associates. Leaving the body of Kakuzu behind, each of the Akatsuki grieved inside, knowing that Sakura would be upset the most by the news.

_A few hours later_

The ninja of Konoha began to wake up, Naruto being the first due to the Kyuubi helping heal his injuries. Sasuke opened his eyes next, closely followed by Neji, then Shikamaru. Lee groggily opened his eyes and cast a glance at the, slowly waking, Tenten. He sighed in relief when she got up and quickly went to help her, even though he was quite slow with his injuries.

"W-where's Kiba?" Hinata questioned, hovering over the cold, dead body of Shino with tears cascading down her cheeks and dropping onto his deathly white face.

"The Akatsuki must have taken him to track Sakura." Naruto spat out bitterly. Akamaru shakily appeared from the bush and ran into the open arms of the kind Hyuuga Chunin. She calmed the pup as her lavender eyes scanned the campsite. Neji walked over to Lee and Tenten to check if they were okay and he apologised for not paying attention to their safety while he was fighting against Itachi. Although the Hyuuga man seemed fine, he was still a little shaky from his experience with the short, but painful, Mangekyo Sharingan.

"INO!" Shikamaru called, kneeling beside the slowly fading Choji. The poison had spread and Ino was the only one present who knew enough medical jutsu to keep him alive long enough to get the Akimichi heir to Tsunade in Konoha. However, the blonde girl wasn't answering his call and he could see her anywhere. Giving Choji one last worried glance, the genius got up to find Ino, searching everywhere around the battle.

"Um…Shikamaru!" Tenten called from beside Lee. "Bring Choji over here!" She commanded.

"Not until I find Ino!" He yelled back. Tenten let a tear escape her eyes as she looked away from her finding.

"I…I f-found her." She stated. Lee ran over to see, but looked away as well, not being able to look at what Deidara had done to the perky, but loud and annoying, blonde female. Her body was burnt black; her hair was scorched as well as many spots on her skin being blackened by the bomb going off on her. Her right arm was a few meters to her right while both of her legs and a section of her skull were to her left. Her hip, which had the bomb attached to it, had burnt into nothing from the heat and flames were still burning away her hair.

Tenten turned away and threw up while the boys cringed and looked anywhere but at the scene before them. Naruto, being a gentle with the pregnant Hyuuga as possible, was holding Hinata back from seeing Ino's body and Choji, who had caught a glimpse of her from his position nearer to the rest of the group, was cry the rest of his energy away. With no energy and little chakra to support him, Choji's system was instantly overtaken by the poison and his life ended over the course of ten, tear-filled minuets.

The Konoha ninja were now looking for Sakura on their own, but also seeking revenge against the Akatsuki for the betrayal and death of their friends.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to Chris, who pointed out my mistake about Shino waking up and then beinng dead. I'm sure other people noticed it, but Chris actually took the time to point it out to me. Thanks:D Hands Chris a cookie**


	50. Chapter Forty Nine

Chapter Forty Nine

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here? I thought I'd never see you again after the sand-nin came!" Sosei confessed, holding his sister close to him as if he was worried she would disappear again when he let go. Sakura just returned his embrace and hugged him in the same way. The twins, Terrane and Karene just stood to the side of their 'ojiisan' and stared at the man embracing their new sister with envy. This was the first time in weeks she had truly smiled, and they were not the cause. Sure, it was a rather selfish thought, but they had began to see Sakura as the only person in the world they could truly count on, and now she had found her brother again, it might all become different between them.

"Sosei-nii-san, why didn't you come to find me?" Sakura asked, hurt obvious in her eyes. He brother just smiled in an apologetic manner and they let the topic drop.

"How have you been?" He asked her. She smiled and shrugged.

"You want the truth or the lie?" Sakura question back.

"Truth." Sosei stated.

"Long version or short?"

"Hm…give me the short version."

"Okay, here goes nothing. Obtained an inner-self, parents killed, avenged them, I got another inner-self, this one more bloodthirsty though. Then I went to live with our aunt and uncle, aunt and uncle got killed on a mission. Left Konoha, my home after mist, to train for four years and came back as an assassin. Betrayed Konoha, when I joined Akatsuki, fell in love-"

"Fell in _**love**_?!" Sosei asked in anger.

"NOT with _this_ guy." Sakura said, jabbing a thumb in Sai's direction.

"Okay then. Thank Kami-sama!" Sosei sighing in relief, apparently not liking Sai too much and believing he wasn't good enough for his little, still baby to him, sister. "Continue."

"Betrayed _by_ Konoha, left Akatsuki on a short vacation, adopted four siblings, went back to Akatsuki with siblings, betrayed by Akatsuki, went back to Konoha, kidnapped by 'rebels', escaped, got a prisoner and now I'm here!" Sakura finished happily, slightly out of breath.

"That was the _short_ version?" Sosei wondered in disbelief.

"Hey! A lot has happened in the past few years! You went missing when I was four and now I'm twenty. That's sixteen years gone! You're twenty four for kami-sama's sake!"

"I guess that _is_ quite a long time…" Sosei admitted. "Well, I went missing, stayed alone for a few years, was found by the rebels, met _Sai_, left the rebels and came to the temple to find ojiisan. I wanted to leave to find you after they told me you were here before, but Hasha said that you'd come back for him. It wasn't the _whole_ truth, as I now see, but you still came back and that's all that matters."

"To tell you the truth, I only came back because I heard that _you_ were here somewhere." Sakura admitted.

"Nice to know that you care so much." Sosei said with a Naruto-like grin before he then noticed the four siblings beside his sister. "Who are these four, Sakura-chan?" The red-haired adult asked his younger sister. She smiled and motioned for her new siblings to come and meet her older brother.

"Sosei, meet Karene, Ryiko, Tyiko and Terrane, our adopted siblings from Konoha, they're Harunos now. Kids, meet Sosei, the older brother of both you and I." Sakura introduced with a smile. Terrane was the first to react, and she did so by approaching her newest older brother and holding his hand gently. Sosei seemed shocked at the sudden contact, but smiled down at her and held her hand back. This small action caused Terrane to grin widely, but her other brothers weren't the type to run up and hug someone, so they settled for grinning at him. Terrane seemed to be very good at breaking the ice between people and would always be able to stop conflict in her own special way.

"I believe that we should all return inside the temple now. It has been a tiring day and we all need rest." Saishi commanded softly. Everyone obeyed him, since he was a respected elder of the temple, and re-entered the temple in groups, one of the stronger men helped the elder priest with Sai by carrying him into the temple, but Saishi waved him off and took Sai by the arm himself. Sakura stopped suddenly, her family halting with her, but she just waved them forward and told them that she would join them in a moment. As the others left, the pinkette walked over to the teenage boy, previously referred to as 'Hasha'.

"Why do you see fit to cause trouble as soon as I get back, even after all these years, insolent child?" Sakura questioned venomously. The boy turned to her with gritted teeth and full-force glare.

"I'm not the weak little child I was four years ago, Sakura-senpai. I have trained and I am now ready to beat you in a battle. Any time, any place, just say the word." Hasha spat defiantly.

"The word." Sakura said back mockingly. Hasha gritted his teeth again and growled under his breath at being mocked to openly. He drew out two kunai, one in each hand, and held them threateningly in front of him. The gleam in his onyx eyes as his jaw-length, sandy blonde hair swept over them proved that he was ready to kill her if needed.

Hasha charged at her, but Sakura just side-stepped him poked him in the back with her left index finger. The boy crumpled to a heap on the floor by her side, but was quick to rise again and take up a fighting position once more. Seeing this, Sakura smirked. Blonde hair blew back as he ran again, throwing three shuriken ahead of him before attempting to stab the graceful assassin with his kunai. Sakura, seemingly amused by his efforts, just caught the shuriken in-between her fingers and dropped them to the floor before tapping the coal-eyed teen on the head with her index and middle fingers, causing him to fall forward onto his face. He got up again and spat the dirt out of his mouth.

"My, my, aren't we determined today." Sakura stated in utmost amusement by his poor display of fighting. Hasha growled at her and launched a barrage of kunai and shuriken at the candy-haired woman before him, trying his absolute best to hit her. All of the weapons landed and the boy was on the verge of jumping for joy, but the body before him erupted in smoke as soon as the hits were made. A shadow clone. Looking to the left, then the right and finally above, Hasha believed that he had lost her. That was true, until she spoke to him.

"Not looking for me very hard, are you, Hasha?" Sakura asked, whispering in his ear while standing directly behind him. His face turned an interesting shade of red and he leapt forward, brandishing yet another weapon. Sakura sighed again, still holding the same mocking smirk on her angelic face, as she dodged every blow with ease and the flexibility of a cat.

On one of the walls in the temple, Saishi stood with, a now untied, man named Neboutoshi Sai. They were watching Sakura and this boy fighting, although the 'rebel' man couldn't quite figure out why. Sure it was perfectly understandable if the old geezer wanted to keep an eye on Sakura, admittedly it was more for the younger boy's safety than her own, but why did he have to drag Sai into it?

"I know what you are thinking younger one, and my reasons are ones that I feel no need to share with you." Saishi explained with a strange gleam in his eye.

"That line is always used by men who want their daughters to marry the man they're talking to." Sai stated, smirking at his own logic. "Or in your case, granddaughter."

"No, no, nothing of the sort, young man, I assure you. I know of the man who will be good enough to wed my granddaughter and, no offence intended of course, it's not you." Saishi told him in reply. "No, the man she will one day wed is a criminal, not a rowdy rebel who got a few of his friends together so they could fight in an utterly and completely _pointless_ war of the lands."

"Rowdy? I'm not a 'rowdy rebel', as you so gracefully put it. I'm a ninja, helping my father in the war." Sai retorted quickly.

"Hm. Wars are pointless and you shouldn't take part by choice. I understand the reasons of the Akatsuki, the sound, the leaf and the sand fighting, but rebels should just stay away until it concerns them personally."

"So…you're the one who taught Sakura that wars were pointless." Sai observed. The old man nodded slightly in reply. "A question, if I may. Who is that boy down there, the one fighting Sakura?" The Neboutoshi rebel asked, staring at the fight once again.

"His name is Hasha. Sakura found him six years ago, a mere year after she first came to this temple and spoke with me after years of not seeing each other. This temple, commonly known as the Tarento temple, was once home to many of the Haruno clan. However, a war passed and most were wiped out, leaving me, my wife and our late son, Sakura's uncle, along with our late daughter, Sakura and Sosei's mother. Sosei, along with his mother and father, left for the mist village shortly after Shousho, their mother, became pregnant with Sakura. Their uncle left for the leaf soon after that and met his late wife."

"Wow. I feel kind of sorry for her." Sai confessed sadly.

"Don't, Sakura hates pity." Sosei said from behind them, the four newest Haruno siblings standing with him.

"As for Hasha," Saishi continued, briefly acknowledging the presence of his grandchildren. "He was abandoned and alone, so she took pity on him and brought him here, into her friends care. Her friends, I cannot recall his name right now, died not too long after. Hasha blamed Sakura for the years he had to live alone after she found him. He said that she should always be with him, rather than going away to complete all her many jobs and earn some money."

"Possessive little boy, that he is." Sosei added with a small glare towards the blonde-haired, onyx-eyed teen.

"I think I understand. So, he wants her to stay with him instead of leaving for so long?" Sai asked, trying to confirm his knowledge. The old man nodded along with Sosei. Karene, Tyiko, Ryiko and Terrane were all listening with interest to the stories their new grandfather was telling them so openly, while they had to practically beg Sakura for the smallest insight on her past. Terrane, on the other hand, was also watching the fight or, more specifically, the boy named Hasha with a small smile and a light pink blush.

"However, do you see how he stays far from any close-contact with her during their fight?" Saishi asked. This time, Sai nodded. "Well, the truth is that he has a baby-crush on her. He admires her strength and fell for her beauty. A teenage boy, as he is, he became possessive over her and hates any man she speaks with other than him. This might mean that he will attempt to attack you, so be on your guard."

"You can say _that_ again. When I first came here asking for Sakura, the kid **bit** me! He threatened me and everything! Of course, he stopped all that when he found out I was Sakura's older brother. Now he just asks loads of annoying questions and stuff about her, like her favourite colour and what food she prefers. The little brat thinks he hates her, but he acts like a love-sick puppy!" Sosei said, holding an aggravated look on his face at the thought of the questions.

"Can I continue?" Asked Saishi, slightly irritated.

"Sorry. Be my guest, ojiisan." Sosei permitted cheekily.

"Anyway, as I was saying. Fighting against Sakura, he may look weak, but that's only because Sakura is so strong. She's holding back by not fighting him back though. Sakura, out of compassion, doesn't with to harm Hasha and Hasha himself is rather afraid to hurt her seriously in any way, since she might stop talking to him or ignore him if he does. Hasha hates it when she ignores him, thus explaining why he was so temperamental earlier."

"That still doesn't explain why he attacked her." Sai pointed out obviously.

"Baka." Sosei muttered, looking around innocently when Sai glared at him, earning a few laughs and giggles out of the younger children present, Karene just looked smug about someone _finally_ calling Sai names. Sure, Sakura lugged him around and insulted him, but never called him stupid or anything like that.

"Well…they have a sort of…unspoken agreement. If Hasha can prove that he is stronger than her, she will stay in the temple. Until the day comes when he can defeat her, she will come and go as she pleases. Although, Hasha is letting out built up rage at the moment, she _has_ been gone for four years after all, he has been training to keep her here, at the temple, so she doesn't leave him again." Saishi explained, trying to ignore Sosei's comments.

"How…how old is he?" Sai asked unsurely.

"He's fifteen, baka." Sosei answered. This time, however, his grandfather sent him a warning look and he shut up for the time being.

"He was eleven when Sakura last saw him, but they have a rather strong bond. The reason she could still recognise him after all this time is thanks to that bond. If you ignore the fighting and the glares, you can see that they actually care for each other strongly. Hasha protects her from the men, even if she doesn't need it, and she protects him from everything else."

"According to him, she even killed off three criminals on their way here, just so that they didn't hurt him." Sosei cut it helpfully. Note the sarcasm.

"When Sakura found him, he was a scared little nine-year-old, a child of the old war. That is the main reason Sakura hates wars. To tell you the truth, more than half of the teens or children, even some of the adults, here are the ones who were orphaned by the war. They are the lucky ones Sakura and Sosei have brought here for protection, their parents and uncle before them." Saishi told him. Sosei looked smug, to say the least, at the slightly impressed look on Sai's face at the knowledge, but he smartly remained quiet.

"I see." Sai said quietly.

"What are you doing, ojiisan, and nii-san?" Asked a female voice from the right of the three older men, along with four children. They all turned and saw Sakura, who seemed to have vanished from her fight while they were talking about Hasha's age, and was now next to them with a tired and red-faced Hasha on her back. He seemed to be pouting, but not all that upset about Sakura caring for him enough to carry him. However, the youngest Haruno siblings were upset about this and they instantly became jealous of the boy, who was older than all of them.

"I just brought the young man out for some air." Saishi explained to his suspicious granddaughter.

"I came out here to let the kids see the best view of the temple." Sosei added, just to explain his reason.

"Well, okay then. I'm going inside to find obaasan (grandmother) and some of the others. You guys coming? Sosei, Karene, Ryiko, Tyiko, Terrane? Or anyone else for that matter?" Sakura stated, following with a, rather extended, question.

"Yeah, I'm going in. Coming guys?" Sosei asked the younger Harunos while looking down to them. They just shook their heads and moved slightly closer to their grandfather. Sosei shrugged and walked inside.

"U-Um…S-Sakura-senpai?" Called a cherry faced teen to the woman carrying him.

"Hn?"

"C-Can you p-put me d-down? I w-want to s-stay o-out here with S-Sai-san and S-Saishi-ojii-sama."

"Okay then." Sakura said, putting him down. "Just make sure you go and see my obaasan when you go back inside, deal?"

"D-Deal." Hasha stated as Sakura lowered him to the ground and walked inside, sending the males a mocking, three-finger salute as she walked, not turning back once. When Sakura was out of their vision, Saishi excused himself, sending a brief warning glance across to Sai, and followed his granddaughter inside.

"So, I-"

"Stay away from Sakura-senpai." Hasha demanded coldly, interrupting Sai as he was about to speak. "You don't deserve her and she doesn't like you anyway." Apparently, both of the, older than them, males had forgotten the presence of the younger siblings of Sakura.

"W-What?! I don't like her _that_ way, kid!" Sai promised. "I just…she and I…we're friends, okay?"

"She hates you. You're not her friend." Hasha told him, turning around to face the others present. He sent a glare over his shoulder at Sai and turned his full attention to the younger siblings. Sai was considering using this opportunity to escape, but decided against it as soon as he felt one exceptionally strong chakra, along with six that were not as strong, but still far stronger than him, and one weaker one. It wouldn't be the smartest idea to go out on his own right now. He sent a look to the glaring teen and the not-yet-teen Harunos, but shrugged and entered the temple.

"Can I help you?" Karene spat at the older boy, standing in front of his siblings protectively. As he did this, the twins unconsciously shielded Terrane from his view, while the eight-year-old girl just attempted to look over and around them to see this boy, whom she though was quite good-looking despite his fearsome snarl.

"Move it, shrimp!" The boy, Hasha, commanded as he pushed past Karene, knocking him onto the floor as he did so. Karene looked up from his new spot, lying on his side, and let his eyes fall on the form of the dreamy-looking Terrane. He mentally slapped his forehead when he noticed that that dreamy look was directed at the boy currently threatening them.

"Stop right there!" The twins said simultaneously, holding out their hands so they looked like a direct mirror image of the other.

"Don't go…" Tyiko stared.

"…Any further." Ryiko finished. Their words were ignore as the taller boy pushed past them too, sending each in a different direction. Hasha stopped in front of Terrane and looked down at her, since she was a lot shorter than he was. While Karene was up to his shoulder and the twins just a small bit shorter than Karene was, Terrane just past his elbow in height and he towered over her.

Hasha snarled at her, but Terrane kept a steady gaze at the floor rather than chancing to look in the face. Her eyes widened as Hasha bent down to her level and looked at her face by craning his neck so his head was tilted to the side and his shoulders lent with it slightly. His eyes softened slightly and a small, almost non-existent, smile appeared on his face. The boys on the floor were too furious at him being that close to their younger sister to notice that he was smiling at her rather than threatening the young child.

"You look a lot like my sister." Hasha said to her softly. "Her name was Hane, what's yours?"

"T-Terrane. H-Haruno Terrane." Terrane answered him with a slight stutter on her words from how nervous she was. She began to press her fingers together in front of her as her face changed from pale to pink in a matter of seconds. By the way she was acting, most would think she had taken lessons from Hinata to know how to appear so nervous.

"Terrane, huh?" Hasha stated in amusement. "Well I-" The teen was interrupted as he suddenly had a kunai thrown at him. It got lodged in his left shoulder and he looked around to find who had thrown it. His gaze first rested in the direction of Tyiko, but he looked just as shocked as Hasha felt when a second kunai hit his right arm. He quickly looked in the direction of Karene and Ryiko, but saw two tall, scary-looking men standing with them, a horde of kunai in the hand of the taller, more blue-looking one. Ryiko was standing behind the leg of the taller, bluer man as Karene snarled at him from by the side of the red-haired one.

"Hasha-san!" Terrane screamed as she quickly took the kunai out of him and started to heal the teen. People inside the temple, after hearing the commotion outside, had formed a crowd. Many, the non-fighters, were standing far back as someone ran back to tell their leader, Saishi, and his grandchildren of what was going on. It wasn't too long before Sosei had the red-head pinned to the floor, five of the other men were restraining the taller man and Sakura walked out with her ojiisan.

"Kisame?!" Sakura yelled in question. Her eyes widened as she saw Hasha and she ran to help Terrane, who was doing a very good job of healing him for a beginner of her age. Soon Hasha was fully healed, but also fully unconscious. One of the non-fighting men took the boy inside while three of the ninja helped Terrane, Ryiko, Tyiko and Karene away from the attackers. Sakura, however, approached Kisame and hit him in the cheek, causing him to remember the reason he tried, at all costs, to stay far from her bad-side.

"We were just helping Terrane-chan!" Kisame told her. "That kid was standing close to her and her brothers were on the ground all upset, so we thought he was going to hurt her."

"So you threw kunai at a fifteen-year-old kid?!" Sakura demanded, still fuming. "Where are the others? If you're here than they can't be far behind."

"Well, that's Sasori down there." Kisame said, motioning to the angry puppeteer being sat on by Sakura's older, and very amused, brother so that he didn't move an inch, let alone attack.

"Sakura-chan, could you kindly tell this buffoon to get THE HELL OFF OF ME?!" Sasori yelled. Sakura pulled Sosei by the arm so that he was off of the red-head, but restrained Sasori with chakra rope. Sasori just stared up at her in question and slight surprise.

"This _buffoon_ is my older brother, Sosei." Sakura stated, causing both Kisame and Sasori to widen their eyes further. "How did you get here anyway?"

"It's a long story." Sasori told her warningly.

"I have time." She said back. By now, most people had left except the Haruno siblings and their grandfather. Since Kisame and Sasori were wrapped in Sakura and Sosei's chakra ropes, respectively, they were no longer a threat. Kisame decided to answer her though, taking the spotlight from a scowling Sasori.

"Well…"

_**Flashback**_

"_Leave him, he's dead now anyway." Zetsu explained with a sigh. The plant got up and took a hold on Kiba's short hair, pulling him along until he was walking with his criminal associates. Leaving the body of Kakuzu behind, each of the Akatsuki grieved inside, knowing that Sakura would be upset the most by the news._

"_How can you just leave someone behind like that?!" Kiba yelled, disgusted by their methods of 'respect' for the dead._

"_Be quiet." Itachi hissed, rubbing his temples in aggravation. He was beginning to get a headache and this mutt wasn't helping the matter at all, it was becoming most troublesome. Kiba, just to see how far he could push the murderer, tried to yell again, but found his mouth clamped shut with some unseen force. He tried again, but still with no success. Deidara sniggered behind his hand and offered an explanation._

"_The obedience collar makes sure that you do __**exactly**__ as we tell you, yeah. That's why it was so funny to see an obedience collar on the mutt-boy, yeah!" Deidara said with the occasional laughter._

"_Tell us if you can smell Sakura or her travelling companions." Zetsu demanded._

"_She's north!" Kiba blurted out, clamping his hands over his fanged mouth afterwards out of regret. Itachi smirked as they carried on though the trees, in the direction the dog-man had told them._

"_Oooh! Tobi wants to try something!" The masked criminal yelled happily as he jumped up and down. "Kiba-san, sit!" Tobi commanded, causing Kiba to fall from the tree he was hopping from and onto the floor, landing right on his butt. Tobi, Deidara and Kisame burst out laughing while Zetsu's dark half sniggered with Hidan and the stoic-duo just smirked._

"_**Haha**__! Laugh it up! When we find Sakura-chan again, she'll help me out of this thing!" Kiba yelled, jumping up the tree again. Itachi scowled as he noticed the honorific Kiba placed on the end of Sakura's name, claiming them to be close friends. Also, Itachi was a little jealous of the dog. After all, when he left, Sakura had constantly said she wanted him to come back. Sure, the only reason of that was because Toro wanted to play with Akamaru, but she still said she wanted 'Kiba-__**kun**__' back._

"_Sit." Itachi spat though gritted teeth with an almost inaudible growl towards the Inuzuka heir. Kiba was, once again, on the ground, but no one laughed this time. They all, including Kiba, could hear the hate behind Itachi's words and didn't want him snapping at them too._

"_W-We're here, yeah." Deidara stated as he looked upon the temple though the trees. The mood Itachi was in almost evaporated until he saw a boy towering over, looking like he was threatening, Terrane by the wall of the temple. To save the boy from immediate death, and also to cheek to see of the fallen Ryiko and Karene were okay, Kisame and Sasori took off in the direction of the temple, leaving the others behind to catch up._

_As soon as they landed, the men helped Karene and Ryiko up from the ground as the aforementioned boys never looked away from their younger sister. Terrane was slowly turning pink and Kisame threw a kunai at the boy, who he believed was far to close to the girl. When the blonde looked in the opposite direction for the source of the weapon, Kisame threw another at him…_

_**End Flashback**_

"…And that's were you came in." Kisame concluded. Sakura looked at Sasori, who just nodded in agreement with the story. Of course, the Kiba-taunt-match had gone on for a bit longer, but that would just further enrage their favourite little pinkette. Also, he left out the part about them fighting, possibly killing, the Konoha-nin they came with.

As if they did it to prove the story true, the others landed in front of Sakura not two seconds later. The ANBU-level run away scanned the group of criminals, but failed to see the completely-covered, money-lover of the mist base, Akatsuki. Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them away before anyone noticed. Kakuzu was really gone.

"Sakura." Itachi called softly, but without emotion. Sakura looked up at him and he had to stifle a gasp. Cuts and bruises, some from travel or the fight with Hasha littered her petite form and she had many deeper, scarring wounds on her bare arms, from where Oozora had hurt her, but Itachi and the others didn't need to know that.

"H-Hello, Itachi." Sakura replied with a soothing, but fake, smile. Kiba lifted his head and grinned at her with wolfish fangs, only to be hit over the head by Deidara to stop him trying to get Sakura's attention away from the Uchiha killer. Sure, Deidara liked her too, but he liked her in the same way Kisame did and would give a years supply of clay to see them together at last. Well, maybe not a _whole_ year, but close enough.

_With the Konoha-nin_

Shortly after Hinata had gone around and helped everyone by healing most of their wounds with her limited medical knowledge and healing cream, the ninja were going around, picking up the bodies of their dead with care and respect. Neji had agreed to find Ino, the many pieces of her, since he was the only ones who wouldn't turn away at the sight of a severed arm or, the piece the ninja were mostly hopeful to find somewhere, her head.

Shikamaru, in the mean time, was scanning the area for any signs of were the Akatsuki headed, with Akamaru aiding him with his nose. Hinata was resting, due to loss of chakra, with Naruto fawning over her and the baby, even if he wasn't her husband or the father of the baby. He had promised Shinrin that he would take care of Hinata and the un-born Hyuuga child and he never broke his promises. Sasuke was just moping in a rather tall tree, staring at nothing in particular, while thinking over what his brother had just succeeded in doing. He knew his brother was fully aware that every one of the Konoha-nin was worried for Sakura, and he had still taken their best chance at finding her in the form of the dog-nin. Sure, they had Akamaru. However, the dog wasn't much use when the only person would could understand him was gone. They could follow the dog, but not understand if they were getting close to her or not.

By far, the most frustrating chore was the one Lee and Tenten had volunteered to do, since neither wanted to transport bodies or search for the rest of Ino. Both had chosen to dig out the graves, so they could set the departed to peace. The two konoichi had tears in their eyes while some of the shinobi, not all of them though, let go of the occasional sniff or wiped their eyes of small tears. Loss wasn't a small thing and no one was immune to it, no matter how emotionless they appeared.

"We have a location!" Shikamaru yelled to the other members of his, now slightly decreased, team.

"W-Where?" Hinata asked though tears. Shikamaru looked at her with a slight relief shown on his face for finding Sakura. He answered her and everyone else who were mentally asking the question.

"Finish the graves and bury the dead, but don't rush it, they deserve a proper burial. Afterwards…we head north."


	51. Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty

The joint shinobi funeral of Aburame Shino, Akimichi Choji and Yamanaka Ino was finished and Neji was helping Sasuke fill in the three large graves where their team mates had been buried. Naruto, thinking back to what Shikamaru had told them a few hours before, turned on the grieving Nara man and looked at him suspiciously. Sure, he had just lost his team mates, both of them, but that wouldn't have any impact on his intelligence. Would it?

"North?" Naruto asked, looking sceptically at the strategist of their team, since north was the direction they had travelled from.

"Yes. Apparently, the place we're looking for has a cloaking jutsu on it to stop all unwanted visitors." Shikamaru elaborated. The blonde was then content that Shikamaru was still in his right state of mind and fully able to continue to lead the mission. Hinata smiled while Tenten, along with her green-loving fiancé, were jumping for joy at the prospect of seeing Haruno Sakura and her siblings again. Naruto took a breath to command the team onwards.

"Then let's go-"

"-Back to Konoha." A voice cut in. the team looked behind them and saw the silver hair and blue mask of Hatake Kakashi, the man who had just told them to go back home.

"Eh?! Kakashi-sensei! What are _you_ doing here?" Naruto asked in shock.

"Tsunade-sama told me to retrieve this team while other Jounins go out and find any other ninja away on missions. The war is coming and we need to have everyone back home, whether their mission is completed or not." Kakashi stated. "Where're Aburame, Akimichi and Yamanaka?"

A long silence erupted from the words of the older ninja and Kakashi knew he had just hit a soft spot. He was about to change the topic, but Hyuuga Neji answered his question with a single, mournful words dripping with hate for…what exactly?

"Dead." Neji stated as he finished filling the final grave. "Akatsuki killed them a few hours ago." Many of the remaining ninja were looking up, down, left, right, anywhere other than at Kakashi, who had cleared his throat and was currently rubbing the back of his neck as a nervous habit.

"Well, we should go. I'll inform the families when we get back to the village and you guys report to Tsunade-sama." Kakashi proposed calmly, keeping a level head about his change of events.

"NO! NOT UNTIL WE FIND SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled in defiance. No matter how much the others of the team agreed with his outburst, they had to obey Tsunade's orders. This meant that Sasuke had to knock out Naruto and carry him back to Konoha. He did so and they all left.

_At the temple_

Hasha woke up in a white room, filled with the intoxicatingly sterile scent of antiseptics and anaesthetic. He shifted and sat up, slightly surprised when he felt no pain in his left or right sides, just a mild itchy, stinging sensation where there should have been blinding pain. Peeling back the clean bandages that covered his wounds, he noticed that the places where the kunai had hit were nothing more than raw, slightly itchy skin and a pale scar.

"_Hasha-san!"_

A pain erupted in his head as he remembered the small Haruno girl, Terrane, screaming his name while he fell to the ground. He also recalled her hand glowing a bright white, contrasting greatly to his darkening vision, and placing her lit appendage against the wound gently. So, it was Terrane who had healed him. No wonder there was still a scar. When Sakura healed it was perfect, leaving no mark and no feelings of pain; Terrane, on the other hand, was just a beginner with great talent in the medical field.

Still, the small eight-year-old had done well for her age. Most konoichi couldn't heal with chakra at all, let alone before their graduation or at least their twelfth birthday. Healing was no easy job. Terrane must have been training for months with already perfect chakra to be able to pull off a stunt like that. Hana, his sister, was terrible with chakra and planned to remain a civilian and let Hasha be the ninja. That alone separated Hana and Terrane by miles. She was the only person he remembered from his past, the life he had before he met Sakura and was adopted into the temple. Seeing his younger sister by one year younger died during a war, not much else was needed for him to forever hate all forms of conflict, yet he continued to cause too much of it himself.

"H-Hi, Hasha-san." Greeted a small, female voice from the door. The blonde then looked over to see Terrane, pink faced and shuffling, by the door leading into his room in the infirmary, which is where he knew himself to be now. Hasha grinned at her and motioned for the brunette to enter the room and approach his bed. She did so and smiled at him.

"So…you healed me?" Hasha asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence between him and the younger, eight-year-old girl.

"W-Well, Sakura-onee-chama h-helped me, b-but I d-did heal y-you m-mostly and…s-stuff." She replied, pressing her fingers together cutely while her face grew from light pink to cherry red.

"Thanks." Hasha said with a smile. Terrane smiled back and looked out of the window.

"Oh no! I have to go and meet Sosei-onii-chama in the training grounds, he promised to show me how to make my shuriken invisible." Terrane admitted with great excitement at the prospect of invisible weapons lacing her tone.

"Invisible? Shouldn't you learn how to throw _visible_ ones first?" Hasha questioned in confusion. Terrane giggled at him and turned to leave. Just before she walked round the door frame and out of sight, she turned to face the onyx-eyed fifteen-year-old with her innocent, blue orbs, still smiling happily.

"Sakura-onee-chama and Sosei-onii-chama told me that I'm already a master with normal weaponry, just like Tenten-nee-chan." Terrane stated with a knowing glint in her big eyes. She left. Blonde hair blew in the wind coming from his window as onyx eyes stared out into space, mindlessly wondering who Tenten was.

_With Sakura_

Pink hair flew in front of calculating emerald eyes as Sakura scanned the area around the temple for people she knew. Of course, it wasn't the Akatsuki or the other people in the temple she was looking for. No, Haruno Sakura was scanning the woods, where she had felt many different, but familiar, chakra patterns only moments ago, which were gradually getting further away.

She sighed as the chakras went out of sensing distance and let her gaze drift around the sights from the temple wall. It truly was a beautiful sight to lay eyes on. You could see the healthy, sun-bathed leaves at the tops of the tallest trees, with lighter green leaves on the smaller ones. A large, but not massive, waterfall could be seen to her left, the perfect location for diving or practising water-based jutsu. Her head rolled on her shoulders as she turned to look at the temple.

Dark yellow, almost gold-looking stones were making up the walls of the holy place, with a red tiled roof overhead. Many carvings and paintings were drawn, or caved, expertly on the walls. She noticed one of the newer ones, which she and Hasha had done together when he had first been brought here, and then one of the older ones, which she had done during her first visit to the temple. He eyes settled on a small carving done by her mother and uncle as children and a small, sad sigh escaped her parted lips.

"May I join you?" Asked a deep voice in front of her. Sakura had been so zoned-out that she didn't even notice Itachi approach her, or stand directly in front of her either. It would have made her laugh, if she didn't realise that it could have been an enemy shinobi or worse, her brother on a hunt for answers regarding who she had fallen in love with.

"Sure, I could use the company." Sakura confessed to her trusted friend, whom she cared about deeper than friendship, but would never tell _anyone_ that. Itachi walked to her side and leant against the low wall surrounding the balcony of the temple entrance. He stole a glance at Sakura, who was once again looking off into space, and let his crimson bloodline limit swirl into the onyx colour his clan was well known to have and looked away.

Seeing as he _was_ Itachi, _Uchiha_ Itachi at that, Sakura doubted that he would ever willingly start a conversation, let alone take part in one, so she wracked her brain for things to talk about with him. Shuriken, kunai and senbon needles were always an option, but then she would seem desperate for conversation. Maybe they could discuss new jutsu? No, not only would it bore Itachi, but it would bore Sakura too, and she was meant to be the one talking about it.

"Um…what are you and the others doing here?" Sakura asked, mentally hitting herself, and inner Sakura, for asking such a stupid question. Of course, mini-Saku-chan wanted to hit her too, so she took over the inner Sakura bashing while outer Sakura paid attention to Itachi.

"We came to find you." He answered simply. It didn't appear as if her 'oh so great' conversation starter was a success, and it truly wasn't. Who starts a conversation with their crush, possible love, with 'what are you doing here?'

"I…thanks." The pinkette said to him, not being able to come up with anything else.

"For what?" Itachi questioned.

"For coming to find me. I guess you guys really _do_ care about me after all, even after I left you." She replied, a small smile gracing her angelically devilish features.

"Of course we care about you. After you left for Konoha, all Deidara and Kisame could talk about was how guilty they felt. Even Sasori was depressed, never coming out of his room for training, meals or missions from leader-sama. In fact, the main reason we were allowed to release Karene, Ryiko, Tyiko and Terrane was because we refused to work for Akatsuki while holding them captive." Itachi explained monotonously as always. Sakura just stared at him, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "What?"

"That has to be…_the_ longest sentence you've ever said." Sakura told him in a dizzy state of awe. She slowly let a grin slip onto her face and began to contemplate something.

"I'm not sure I like that look." Itachi confessed emotionlessly, but on the inside he was slightly worried over what was going on in the konoichi's mind to make her grin like a cat that had just caught a mouse and was ready to toy with it for a while.

"What about _you_?" She asked slyly.

"Hn?" Itachi wondered.

"How did _you_ feel when I left?" Sakura questioned, slightly more seriously this time around. Itachi though about his answer for a moment and sighed.

"I have no use for emotions, therefore I did not 'feel' anything when you left for Konoha." The pride of the old Uchiha clan claimed falsely, lying though his teeth to the woman before him. However, due to his many years of flawless lying and his cold demeanour, Sakura couldn't tell that his words were untrue. Sure, she had suspected that he didn't feel the same way about her that she about him, but she at least expected him to like her as a friend.

"…Oh…I see." Sakura drawled sadly. Her eyes became downcast as she began to turn and walked away.

Itachi observed her as she re-entered the temple with a sad expression on her beautiful face. She wasn't really sad, was she? No, Itachi shook his head, it must have been his imagination.

"Congratulations, baka." Called a man from the stairs leading up to the temple. Itachi looked at him and realised it to be Sakura's older brother, Haruno Sosei.

"Hn." Itachi replied emotionlessly. Sosei growled and ran up the steps to face the Uchiha clan murderer. Sosei was taller than him, much to his dismay, but didn't intimidate him in the slightest. If one angry older brother could make him so much as flinch, Itachi would be ashamed to call himself an S-class criminal.

"She loved you when you were kids in Konoha, but then she started to like your brother more and even wrote that she; 'loves him more than her very own life'. What I just saw was her giving you a second chance, and you blew it, Uchiha." Sosei lectured him. "I mean, I've read her diary and all she wrote about in the first few pages of when she was six up until she was fourteen was all about you! Then she wrote about your brother and how much she loves him, but that's not the point I'm trying to make here, baka. The point is, I know you like her too, but you're too stupid to do anything about it, Sasuke."

"What did you call me?" Itachi questioned the man in front of him, completely ignoring the fact that not only had this man been reading his sister's diary, but he had also said that Sakura was in love with him before they even met. Sosei looked confused.

"…Sasuke, your name. Why?"

"I'm not Sasuke." Itachi replied.

"Of course you are! You have the onyx eyes and the dark hair. The only other mention of a man with dark hair in her diary is your brother, Itachi, but he had red eyes. I haven't read her dream journal, so I don't know about who's mentioned in there."

"I'm Itachi, I just turned off my Sharingan." Itachi informed him. Sosei seemed to be running this statement over in his mind a few times before realisation set on his features.

"So, can you not tell Sakura that I read her diary _and_ told you how she feels about you?" Sosei asked guiltily. Itachi nodded, causing the Haruno to breathe a sigh of relief, and the red-head began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Itachi asked him, feeling that Sosei was trustworthy enough to talk to him.

"I'm training Terrane, I have to go. Bye!" He yelled as he jumped down two steps at a time and ran around to the back of the temple, where the training grounds were located. Itachi felt a stab of guilt at the mention of the youngest Haruno, since he _did_ actually think of her as…a little sister f sorts.

"You can come out now, Kisame." Itachi stated smoothly, since he didn't feel like waiting until the shark-man makes himself known to the world.

"Awww, you let everyone else talk to get your attention. Why didn't you let me do that too?" Kisame whined like a child. Itachi smirked and walked passed the childish criminal. "Itachi, I need to talk to you." The swordsman said in a more serious tone.

"Hn?"

"Its about Saku-chan. I don't want her getting hurt and I know that you're going to see her now. If…if you two get together, promise me that you'll look after her. Seeing Saku-chan hurt isn't one of the things I'd like to do any time soon, whether her pain is emotional or physical." Kisame confessed to the dark killer. Itachi began to walk away, but Kisame stopped him. "Promise me Itachi, now." He demanded.

"Hn." Itachi said. Seeing the desperate look on his partner's face he sighed. "I promise." He concluded, walking away. If he looked back, he would have seen the smile on Kisame's face at the two words. Itachi always kept his promises and never forgets them either.

_Konoha_

"They…what?" Tsunade asked in disbelief.

"The Akatsuki betrayed us and killed three of our ninja. We did, however, manage to bring down one of them ourselves." Neji reported professionally.

"Who did you kill?" The Hokage questioned the seven remaining members of the Konoha twelve in her office.

"The one named Kakuzu." Sasuke informed her blankly.

"Who did we lose?" Tsunade wondered, slightly hesitant to let them answer.

"Aburame Shino." Hinata stated with a choked sob.

"Yamanaka Ino." Shikamaru said in the same way, but holding back his emotions better than Hinata had.

"Is that all?" Tsunade asked hopefully. Perhaps Choji was just out to eat, grieving over his girlfriend and that was the reason he wasn't present at this meeting.

"Akimichi Choji." Naruto finished, crushing the hopes of the large-breasted woman at the desk. Tsunade sighed and emptied the sake cup in front of her, pouring more into the glass and soon emptying that one as well.

"Very well. Did you complete a shinobi funeral for them?" The Godaime asked.

"Hai." Everyone chorused.

"Their names shall be added to the memorial. We cannot waste any more time, the war is approaching fast. Hyuuga Hinata."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama?" Hinata answered softly.

"Return home and rest. When you have fully gathered your energy, report to the hospital to help with the healing there. We need all the help we can get and I don't want to be the one to send a pregnant woman into battle."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." The shy Hyuuga woman said as she 'Poofed' out of the office and back home to greet her husband.

"Hyuuga Neji."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

"You are going to be the next Hyuuga clan leader after your uncle, Hinata's father, correct?"

"Hai."

"I want you to go back to the district and round up all of the capable fighters from the Hyuuga clan under _my_ authority. If they can't fight, have them heal or injured ninja, if they can't heal, have them sharpening weapons or preparing scrolls. I don't want _anyone_ under the age of twelve to have a part in this war, so leave them with someone who can look after them. Go."

"Hai." Neji bowed and left in the same way his cousin did previously.

"Nara Shikamaru."

"Hai."

"I want you to go to the Konoha prison and help Ibiki with working out a battle plan or course of action. Go!"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." Shikamaru Poofed out too.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"…Hai."

"Go to the academy and help Iruka train the students. If the time comes when we need the aid of the final year graduates, I want them fully trained and able to take care of themselves. Go!"

"Hai." Sasuke left.

"Rock Lee, Tenten."

"Hai." The two said simultaneously.

"I'm sorry to have to do this, but your wedding isn't as important as the well-being of this village. I'm sorry. I want Lee to run to Suna give them this scroll, and then come back with the one Gaara with give you. Tenten, you go to the weapon shops all over the village and help with the weapons inventory and assist the blacksmiths with making new weapons. Go!"

"Hai!" Lee took the scroll from Tsunade and left, Tenten bowing and following after him. Neither held any grudges that their wedding had been postponed, since it was for the good of the village.

"What about _me_ Tsunade-baa-sama?!" Naruto complained. Tsunade cast him a weary glance and got up from her desk.

"Naruto…I'm getting old." She informed him obviously.

"Duh! You're old enough to be my grandma's grandma!" The kitsune yelled disrespectfully.

"Let me finish, brat! I'm getting too old to fight after this last battle and I need to train a new Hokage. That's your job Naruto."

"To…find a new Hokage?"

"NO BAKA! I want _you_ to become the sixth Hokage after me!" Tsunade yelled at the stupid ninja. Naruto paused for a moment before he burst in an assortment of yelling, jumping around and thanking the Hokage over and over again. His dream was coming true!

_With Gaara_

"Kazekage-sama, the war will begin in three days." An advisor told the red-haired man in the Kazekage's chair. Gaara closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, the others around the table holding their breaths in fear of the village leader. Even after years of calm, most people still feared Gaara, his siblings and the Konoha twelve not included.

"Temari, Kankuro." Gaara called. The aforementioned two stepped out of the shadows in the room and stood on either side of his chair.

"Yes, Kazekage-sama?" They both asked in respect for their younger brother, pride filling their voices.

"Any word from our allies?" He asked.

"We have received word from lightening and stone that they are ready and know where to meet before the battle." Temari answered stiffly, knowing that her brother was only interested in word from Konoha about the retrieval of Sakura.

"What about Konoha?" Gaara questioned, just as his sister knew he would.

"The runner from the village hidden in the leaves has not yet arrived, but we are confident that he or she is on their way now." Kankuro told him to save his sister the task of doing so. Temari sent him a grateful look, but Kankuro seemed just a worried about the cherry blossom girl as his brother. Then again, it wasn't as if Temari didn't feel worry over her 'little sister' as well.

"Very well." Gaara said, sounding disappointed. "Meeting adjourned; you may go about your daily tasks as per usual." He concluded. The council members rose from their seats, bowed to their Kazekage and left quietly though the door to the left of the room.

"Kazekage-sama!" A Chunin yelled as he ran into the room, bowing to the Kazekage hastily.

"What is it?" Gaara snapped coldly.

"A runner from Konoha has arrived and he is currently waiting in your office to see you." The messenger informed him, cowering for his insignificant life as he did so. Without another word or a passing glance, the three sand siblings left the building and headed for the Kazekage tower.

When they arrived, the three were greeted with respectful bows and a walking green stick named Rock Lee. Lee grinned and struck his 'good-guy' pose as he handed Gaara the scroll. As the insomniac scanned the message, his eyes hardened and he felt a burning sensation as something exploded in his chest.

"Gaara?" Temari asked warily. Gaara's head snapped up and he grabbed some paper and a pen. He scribbled down a few words onto the paper and rolled it up, handing it to Lee. Once the green beast had it in his grip, he bowed to the Kazekage and ran back to Konoha as fast as he could, he had taken off his weights to get there and back.

"What did the scroll say?" Kankuro asked. Gaara scoffed and dropped the scroll on the ground as he walked off. Temari picked up and read it, Kankuro reading the words over her shoulder as she did so.

_Kazekage,_

_My team was unable to apprehend Haruno Sakura and was betrayed by the Akatsuki on their journey, resulting in the death of three of my finest shinobi, Yamanaka Ino, Aburame Shino and Akimichi Choji. However, they were able to kill Kakuzu, the Akatsuki member with parts of his body stitched all over the place._

_I called them back, so Haruno Sakura is still out there somewhere. My village has begun to prepare for the battle and will meet you, lightening and stone at the great divide, west of Suna._

_Yours respectively,_

_Tsunade, Hokage of the leaf._

Temari sighed as she re-read the letter and turned to console Kankuro, who was obviously upset that Sakura was still out there. However, she was met only with a determined face and a brave look.

"I need to train for the war." Kankuro stated as he left. Temari stared after him in sadness. She too left to train, think of how her boyfriend was taking the death of his team mates and friends.

With Terrane and Sosei

Terrane had manage to get the jutsu for creating an illusion around her shuriken to make them invisible, but was still struggling to keep the illusion up while hitting her target accurately. She had, so far, managed to begin hitting the ring just outside of the bulls-eye, but promised herself that she wouldn't stop until she could hit dead in the centre.

"Terrane, come over here!" Sosei called to her. The brunette nodded and walked over to her brother. She stood by his side and looked up at him, only to see him smiling and holding three shuriken in his hand. Suddenly, the shuriken became kunai, then shuriken again and finally senbon needles. Terrane just watched in awe as an arrangement of her favourite projectiles morphed into one-an-other.

"How?" The young girl asked in amazement as the projectiles extended and began o take on the form of a katana, a **Chigiriki and even a pair of Kama.**

**"It's a jutsu Sakura invented called 'Buki hensen, Kage no jutsu', or weapon change, shadow technique. It's called a ghost technique because you can transform one kunai into three hundred senbon needles or vice versa, kinda like a shadow can grow or shrink. I was never fond of weapons back then, so I never really used it. However, seeing as you ****_love_**** weaponry so much, I thought I'd teach it to you." He informed her. "Sakura told me that I could, since she never got the chance."**

"C-Can it become…Neko-te?" She asked shyly. Sosei chuckled as he used the jutsu again the Manriki Gusari he was holding changed into the strong iron fingernails that were fastened into leather bands fitted on the fingers, and resembled claws. What Terrane like most about them was that this particular weapon was also dipped in poisons before use, or just used to slash at the enemy in a cat-like manner.

"Here, this is how it works…"

_With Sakura_

The pinkette had just finished a round of training with her many clones and was panting lightly. Sakura had not only held up and re-done a clone jutsu for three hours, but she had also made her clones attack her with an assortment of weaponry, ranging from the small and discrete Kakute, a poison-dipped ring, to an Ono, a four foot long battle axe with a giant steel blade.

All she used were her two Shobo, small weapons that were used for striking pressure points within the body, the neck was the best place to strike. It was a ring fitted on the middle finger and had a piece of sharp wood attached to it. It was a weapon to rein act the Hyuuga style of fighting without some of the grace of finesse.

"Sakura." Called a deep voice for the second time that day. This time, however, Sakura was quick on her feet and started a sparring match by using her **'Buki hensen, Kage no jutsu' to change her Shobo into an Ono and swinging it in a 360 degree circle, aiming for Itachi's head. The latter dodged and pulled out a set of **nunchakus, aiming a hit at her stomach.

Sakura retaliated by transforming her heavy Ono into a tanto, a small knife made to cut an opponent, throw, pry open doors etc. It wasn't, however, as good as a kunai in battle, it was better for other things like digging small holes and ditches. Itachi charged forward, swinging his nunchakus with ease, and hit Sakura in the side, while she cut his arm and sliced a small cut on his cheek. The Uchiha sighed and rushed forward, putting away his nunchakus as he ran, and pinned Sakura to the wall of the temple. They _were_ outside, and he had pinned her to an outer wall on the west side of the holy place.

"Can I talk to you now?" Itachi asked in slight amusement as he squeezed her wrist, causing her to drop her tanto on the floor. Sakura shrugged.

"Sure, I guess." She answered. Itachi sighed.

"Earlier, when I said that I didn't feel anything when you left, I was lying though my teeth." He confessed. "The truth is…um…this I kind of hard to say, so just bare with me…" All Sakura could do was stare at him. Not only was _the_ Uchiha Itachi stuttering, but he was showing emotion and nervousness!

"Um…Itachi?" Sakura called quietly, getting slightly worried about him.

"No. I can't find the right words." He admitted. Sakura looked at him with confusion moulded into her emerald eyes.

"What do you me-" Sakura was cut off when she felt two rough lips press against her own. Her eyes widened and she froze, unable to push him off or respond. Itachi, at first, believed this to be a sign of rejection and mentally planned to kill her brother for telling him that she loved him, but then he felt Sakura kiss him back.

Itachi opened his mouth and let his tongue slide across her bottom lip, asking for entrance, and Sakura complied by parting her lips far enough for him to slip inside. After a few more second, they broke apart for air and Sakura just stared at him, still panting from training and now from lack of breath. Itachi saw her look and smirked.

"I told you that I couldn't find the right words." He commented as he walked away, leaving the stunned konoichi behind to trace her lips and smile gently to herself.

"Sakura?" Called a voice. The pinkette froze and turned to see…


	52. Chapter Fifty One

Chapter Fifty One

"_What do you me-" Sakura was cut off when she felt two rough lips press against her own. Her eyes widened and she froze, unable to push him off or respond. Itachi, at first, believed this to be a sign of rejection and mentally planned to kill her brother for telling him that she loved him, but then he felt Sakura kiss him back._

_Itachi opened his mouth and let his tongue slide across her bottom lip, asking for entrance, and Sakura complied by parting her lips far enough for him to slip inside. After a few more second, they broke apart for air and Sakura just stared at him, still panting from training and now from lack of breath. Itachi saw her look and smirked._

"_I told you that I couldn't find the right words." He commented as he walked away, leaving the stunned konoichi behind to trace her lips and smile gently to herself._

"_Sakura?" Called a voice. The pinkette froze and turned to see…_

"Kiba! What are _you_ doing here?" Sakura asked in shock. Kiba just frowned and looked at her disappointedly.

"I can't believe that you would stoop as low as to kiss some filthy fugitive, an S-class missing-nin, or let _him_ kiss _you_." Kiba stated. Sakura looked down and felt a stone weigh heavily on her chest, guilt. Then the guilt was replaced with anger towards the mutt who dared to call _her_ 'man some filthy fugitive'.

"Itachi is _not_ some filthy fugitive and _so what_ if he's a missing-nin!? I love him; you don't have a right to put me down for feeling something towards someone else. If it was _you_ I'd kissed and you were in the same status as him, would you like it if Itachi said to me what you just did, Kiba?" She retorted heatedly.

"I would never _be_ a criminal like him, Sakura!"

"You're right, he is _way_ to strong for you to even be compared to a fly next to him!"

"Don't say that! He doesn't really love you, it's probably just an act! He's _using_ you Sakura! Why can't you see that?!"

"He would never _use_ me! Itachi loves me and I love him! You just can't admit it, mutt-breath!"

"Grrrrr! I can't stand listening to you any more, traitor!"

"Call me something I don't know!" Sakura retorted to his retreating back, tears of frustration towards the flea-brain pricking at the corners of her eyes. Sakura threw a punch at the wall, just a normal one with no chakra, and pulled her fist out of the newly formed dent. She continued like this for a few minuets, tearing at everything she could find to get all of her anger out. So busy, was she, that she didn't even notice the other witness of her kiss, argument and destruction.

Hasha was walking towards the training ground, since he heard that his Sakura-senpai was over there, when he heard her yelling. He felt his heart break in two, but knew that he should have expected this to happen eventually. He was only a kid to her, a weak kid at that. Itachi was strong, brave, a good ninja _and_ had looks. '_Maybe his looks were not as good as mine, but he still had good ones.'_ Hasha thought to himself.

She continued to destroy random objects and throw herself at the training dummies, ripping the head off of them as she went. Ignoring Hasha, Sakura gathered some kunai and began throwing them at the targets, hitting dead-centre each time. Hasha watched silently before deciding he should intervene.

"Sakura-senpai?" He called. Sakura looked over her shoulder at him, but Hasha saw the tears gathering in her eyes. He looked away, trying his best not to see his senpai in a state of weakness. If he saw her crying, being weak, than that would prove that she's mortal and not an immortal hero for him to admire and want to be like. Also, it would tear him apart to have to see his senpai crying.

Sakura wiped her tears and glared at Kiba, before fully turning to the blonde and offering a smirk. Relieved that she was back to normal, Hasha grinned and presented a set of shuriken, silently asking her to train with him so he could improve. Apparently, Hasha wanted to forget what he heard and believe that he still stood a change with Sakura. After all, a boy could dream.

They practiced with shuriken for a while, then moved on to kunai, than Neko-te, which Hasha claimed was a woman's weapon, and ended with a stirring round of hand-to-hand combat. Hasha was sitting down on the grass, panting, while Sakura didn't even break a sweat. This show of endurance, even if she didn't know she was showing her superior stamina, gave Hasha a pump of adrenalin and he got up from the ground.

"How about we spar?" Hasha suggested. Sakura looked at him with amusement in her emerald orbs and walked the usual distance away from him for a spar. Hasha got into a genjutsu fighting position, since that was the one he was most comfortable in, and readied his hand signs. He made the fools mistake and charged first, giving Sakura the chance to kick him back.

Hasha recovered fast and preformed the necessary hand signs for his favourite genjutsu ever. He had invented it and Sakura didn't know he could use it. It was called 'Karei tai zunou', beauty against brains, and was designed specifically to defeat Sakura.

_The world melted around them and the two found themselves in a field of cherry blossoms and tulips. Sakura looked around and reached to draw her kunai, but her weapons pouches were gone along with every single weapon she had hidden in her clothing. She smirked at his efforts to disable her abilities to use weapons and sensed his chakra in a tree not too far from her position. However…she also felt his chakra behind her, and to her left…and right. Something was wrong with this picture._

_One Hasha charged from behind her with a kunai, but Sakura easily defeated him and took the weapon. When the weapon touched her hand, it disappeared. Her eyebrows furrowed in consentration as she tried to cut off the chakra signals to her brain to cancel the genjutsu, but that didn't work either. For a moment, one fleeing second, Sakura was stumped._

_Seven Hasha clones, along with the real one, charged together at a smirking Sakura and tried to hit her with their kunai. However, she didn't move and inch. Hasha stopped and his eyes went wide as he saw every one of his clones hit her with their kunai. He scowled when he noticed the weapons disappear._

"_You need to work on the aspect of this, Hasha. Keep the weapons away from me, sure, but make sure you can use them __**against**__ me rather than them disappearing before they make contact." Sakura informed him with a smirk._

The world went back to normal as Hasha fell to the ground from exhaustion and over-use of chakra. Admittedly, his genjutsu was amazing for someone of his age, especially since he was a taijutsu type to begin with. Sakura picked him up and carried him to his room before going to look for Kisame.

_Terrane's PoV_

I had been walking around the temple after my training session with Sosei-onii-chama and was quickly getting bored of meeting the same people and seeing the same hallways. At first, all of the painting and carvings on the walls and amazed me. Now I probably knew every detail of each painting and carving better than the ones who had made the art in the first place.

Many times had I passed Deidara and Sasori as they were carving in the wall and filling in some of the cracks with paint. Saso-chan had to convince Dei-Dei not to blow up the walls, just to prove his theory of fleeting art being superior to ever-lasting. What I don't get is, they both claim that Sakura-onee-chama is 'art'. How can she be both fleeing and everlasting?

Tyiko and Karene seem to understand how she can be both, but whenever I ask them they say that she's 'a fleeing life in everlasting memories'. I mean. What the hell are they saying?! I couldn't say that to them though, since Sakura would punish me for saying 'hell'. I learnt it from Hidan, so I don't know why it's so bad.

Anyway, I was walking around when I came across the infirmary again, with the same old woman bustling about, treating patients as if she had the energy of a hyperactive six-year-old. In truth, I knew she was tiring fast. As a medic, in-training, I know the tell-tale signs of exhaustion and she has them all. She dropped three plastic bottles of medicine on the floor, but didn't notice as she went to treat another patient. I looked at the bottle and then at a boy, who was really tall, whistling to himself while lying on a bed.

The bottle was containing alcohol for cleaning wounds, but this old woman had neglected to give some to the boy, whom I could see had a big, nasty cut down his left leg. He winced slightly as the woman moved his injured leg back and forth before she left, mumbling about going to find someone named 'Shurui-sensei'. I eyed the bottle, looking over to the boy every now and then, before sighing and picking up the cleanser.

My hair moved in the braid Sosei had put it in for me as I walked towards the boy, opening the bottle. He noticed my approach and turned his head to look in my direction. The bottle nearly fell to the floor as I stifled a gasp of surprise. This boy, or should I say man, had scars all over his face, arms…everywhere I could see! He grunted at me and eyes the rubbing alcohol in my hand.

"You a medic?" He asked gruffly. I nodded, not trusting my voice right at this very moment.

"It's rude to stare, dear." Stated a voice from behind me softly. A woman took the rubbing alcohol from me hand, without snatching it, and applied the correct amount onto the wound on the man's leg. She then healed it, leaving only a faint scar where the wound once was. I, despite the gentle reminder, continued to stare. The man got up and left, muttering thanks on his way out.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"It's rude to ask a name of someone without providing one yourself." The kind old woman said back.

"I'm Haruno Terrane." I told her.

"Ah, my youngest grandchild. I'm Haruno Shurui, your grandmother. You can just call me obaa-chan." Shurui told me. I nodded and was about to leave, but she spoke again. "Can you use medical jutsu, Terrane-chan?"

"A-A little, Sakura-onee-chama is teaching me." I confessed.

"This is good. You have potential in that field, but not as much as you have in weaponry." My grandmother told me.

"How do you know I like weapons, obaa-chan?" I asked.

"Your wrists have strong joints with flexible mucels, perfect for weaponry and throwing projectiles. So I just assumed…" She trailed off, but I knew what she meant. "With this blasted war coming up, I hope you never have to use your skills with blades by force and choose whether or not to fight."

"Sakura-onee-chama promised that, if I didn't want to fight, I could heal for her, or just stay with someone she trusted to look after me."

"Yes, my granddaughter is a very caring person. Well you should be going now Terrane-chan." Shurui smiled and waved me out of the infirmary. I just stared at the door for a while, but she called though the door to me.

"It's late, little one. Get some rest." She ordered nicely. I walked towards the room I was given, which was mine and mine alone, and changed for bed after brushing my teeth and combing my hair out of the wavy curls it had from the braid. A yawn escaped my mouth as I snuggled into the large, soft bed I had claimed and fell asleep.

_**Dream**_

_I walked though a battlefield again, just as I had all those weeks before now at the Akatsuki base. Blood was everywhere, and I was able to acknowledge it this time. To the right of the field stood the Akatsuki; opposite them, on the left, were the Konoha ninja, now with the ninja Suna, lightening and Stone with them, and behind me stood the shinobi and konoichi from the country of sound, with mist, water and grass as their allies. The rebels Sai was with made no appearance, which confused me slightly since he always boasted about winning the war. Once more, the only group with clear faces were my siblings and I._

_Standing in front of me was my brothers, including Sosei, Hasha and adoptive-sister. I saw myself shaking in fear and holding Sakura's leg, closing my eyes to try and make the sight disappear. My older sister told something to my dream relatives, and Hasha, and they moved back, away from the scene of fighting. A light enveloped the pink-haired woman, I now noticed that this light was a mix of purple and pink, and when it dimmed, my dream replica gasped. I had, of course, already seen this part and so I wasn't shocked by it._

_Sakura was standing, once again, with two other people that looked a bit like her. One of them ran to the Akatsuki, one to Konoha and the other to sound. She seemed to be siding with all of them again. I did not become confused this time when I didn't see her, or her accomplices, face the opposition._

_I, instead, watched carefully as they began to back into the centre of the field, one walking though my astral self on the way. She looked at me, right into my eyes, and I saw the Zoneingan again, the bloodline of the woman who had saved my small family. She stopped and seemed to, while remaining motionless, reach out to take me to safety, but her mind's will withdrew soon enough. I was half tempted to take the safety offering this time, just to see if things would turn out differently._

_It all happened in a blur. The tree sides all rushed at each other and before I could even try to scream out, Sakura was on the floor, cold and almost dead, with the enemies looking at her with something different on each of their faces. She began to speak in a raspy voice._

"_I'm sorry." She whispered. One man from Akatsuki walked out from the crowd and dropped to his knees in front of the dying Haruno. He took her hand and lifted her. I couldn't hear, but the man appeared to be yelling something at her. She just smiled, shook her head and became limp in his arms._

_The man cried._


	53. Chapter Fifty Two

Chapter Fifty Two

"War." Said a male voice, echoing his single word though unseen caves and hollow spaces.

"It's a terrible thing, which most avoid if at all possible. Unfortunately for the Haruno six, Sakura, Sosei, Terrane, Ryiko, Tyiko and Karene, along with Hasha, Inuzuka Kiba and the great powers of the Akatsuki, it was unavoidable. They had no choice of whether they fought or not. Some were fighting for power, some for glory, while others fought to protect and defend. Whatever the reason, the war was not too far away." Another male voice stated.

"It is also the cause for this _lame-o_ story." A final, tired male voice stressed. The two previous speakers looked towards the newest one and scowled.

"I'd like to see you do better, Kisame." The first voice mocked.

"Shut it, Hidan. You stared this thing with the lamest line _ever_!" Boasted the second voice.

"You're not much better, Sasori." Kisame told the red-head with a sharky grin.

"I think the readers want to get on with reading this chapter now!" Itachi yelled.

"Why are you so out of character, Itachi?" Kakuzu asked the Uchiha murderer.

"I have no script; therefore I have no character for this chapter." Itachi answered testily.

"Hey, I'm not in this chapter either, yeah!" Deidara said angrily.

"This chapter will lead right into the main war, so the story is almost finished now. Also, I'll give an update of Konoha, Suna and people preparing for war. However…I lost the script." Shadow Quil admitted shyly as she rubbed the back of her head nervously. Several groans and 'not again'-s followed her confession.

"At least you guys actually _get_ screen time. The damn readers killed me off before I got a chance to even speak more than one fucking paragraph!" Kakuzu's ghost complained loudly.

"Hey! Swearing is my thing! Quit fucking stealing my fucking habit of swearing like a fucking moron!" Hidan yelled back at him.

"Tobi doesn't understand why everyone is yelling…and swearing when Shadow-chan is the one who lost the script!" Tobi pointed out.

"That's right!" Sasori yelled.

"GET HER!" And the Akatsuki, including the ghost of Kakuzu, chased after Shadow Quil with many weapons and threats.

"Shadow-chan is busy dodging shuriken, kunai and whatever the Akatsuki can get their hands on, so I will say this: Review on the chapter or I will create myself a part in this story and kill you!" The Akatsuki leader screamed with a scary grin, lightening flashing behind him.

The **real** Chapter Fifty two

"Saku-chan!" A silver haired man yelled as he ran across the temple hall and towards a pink-haired assassin. Sakura turned and smiled gently at the religious man.

"Hey, how have you been? I haven't spoken to you in ages." Sakura said cheerfully. Hidan grinned.

"That fucking Kakuzu has been throwing away my sacrifices. Apparently, I get blood stains all over his fucking money and he can't stand it any more, the stitched up little shit." Hidan explained, frowning and cussing as per usual. Sakura rolled her emerald eyes and smirked at him.

"Done?" She asked, knowing her friend needed to vent every so often before he exploded.

"…done." Hidan promised after several calming breaths.

"I…I can't believe that he's gone though." Sakura confessed sadly. "He didn't even do anything wrong." She stressed. "…well, except killing multiple people and joining up with an organisation of killers and betrayers whose goal it was to capture and contain all of the world's demons." She added as an after thought.

"Heh, that fucking moron didn't even stand a fucking chance of living. He was a no good money whore. Jashin would've condemned him anyway, since he never even preformed a single ritual!" Hidan stated with a frown, slowly morphing it into a grin. "I preformed a ritual last week though, so I'm fine."

"Good for you. I have _never_ preformed a ritual, but I don't believe that Jashin would punish me, since I kill so many." Sakura stated, event though she didn't believe in Jashin at all. Hidan smirked at her and held out his religious pendant.

"Worry not, Saku-chan. I shall cleanse you of all of your not-ritual-based killing sins right now!" He said as he swung his pendant, before retuning it to its previous place around his neck and winked.

"Thanks buddy!" Sakura said with a grin, swinging her arm around his shoulders and winking to sliver-haired religious criminal. He grinned back and led her down the corridor. Black with red clouds caught the attention of both missing-nins as the plant-man appeared in front of them. Sakura smirked and moved from Hidan to give Zetsu a hug.

"Man, I missed you guys!" She exclaimed to the two mist base Akatsuki.

"Did Sakura-chan-sama miss Tobi too?" An innocent voice next to Zetsu asked.

"Of course I did, Tobi-kun." Sakura promised her third-person speaking friend, ruffling his hair. This was with some difficulty, since Tobi was considerably taller than her.

"_So, what have you been up to, Sakura-chan_?" Zetsu's light half asked politely. "**Yeah, gimme all the details of very corpse and kill!**" His darker half demanded crudely to follow his more polite half.

"Well, not much. Kidnapped, escaped, on the run and then here to give you the basic outline of it all." She said thoughtfully. "What about you guys? Hidan already told me his…interesting life up until now."

"_Hmm, I've grown a new crop of crab grass and even managed to sprout a patch of fire lilies._" Zetsu proclaimed proudly. "**Said fire lilies helped me lure some enemy-nin into a trap by captivation the female on their team. If only more konoichi were like you, Saku-chan, then female ninja wouldn't have such a bad name.**" The darker half stated with a huff.

"Oh! Tobi has been helping Zetsu-senpai in the garden and learned a new jutsu for when Tobi fights against Konoha in the war!" Tobi yelled happily. Seeing Sakura's down-cast expression at the mention of the war, Hidan hit Tobi over the head.

"Shut the fuck up, you little basterd! Can't you fucking well see that any mention of the fucking war gets Saku-chan all sad?" Hidan lectured him, not soon forgetting his tendency to swear. Tobi looked at Sakura, who was frowning at the ground, and gasped.

"Tobi is sorry, Sakura-chan-sama! Tobi didn't mean to make Sakura-chan-sama sad! Please don't be sad, Sakura-chan-sama!" Tobi exclaimed as he hugged her around the waist.

"Its okay, Tobi-kun. I don't mind, really." Sakura comforted him, just so he would let go and let her breathe again. Despite the way he acts and looks, his strength is only a fraction less than Kisame or Sakura and Tobi often forgets to slacken his grip. To her relief, he let go and Hidan helped her keep her balance. Sakura flashed him a smile to which Hidan turned away, hiding the faint pink staining his cheeks.

"_So, Sakura-chan, when to you believe you will speak with Itachi about your feeling towards him?_" Light Zetsu questioned. Hidan's mouth fell open and he could only stare between the plant and the cherry blossom girl in disbelief. Sakura had confided her feelings for Itachi in Zetsu a few moths before she left for Konoha and met her new younger siblings. With the exception of Kisame, whom was Itachi's partner and might let her feelings for him slip, Zetsu was the only person Sakura felt she could trust with this kind of thing.

"W-Well…um…h-he actually…k…k-kissed…m…me…" Sakura replied, stuttering and blushing heavily. Hidan was still in a state of shock over the news of her liking Itachi. Sure, all the signs were there, but the Jashin believer chose to turn a blind eye to it and hope that Sakura would give up on Itachi. He certainly didn't expect the heartless Uchiha to actually _kiss_ her.

"YOU LIKE THAT BASTERD ITACHI?!" He screamed, causing several people close by, and a few on the opposite side of the temple, to look their way. He frowned and drew his three-bladed scythe, daring someone to say a word. No one did and they just returned to their business.

"Well, yes, I do." Sakura confessed, thoroughly embarrassed by her friend's volume. He stared at her for about five second before shaking his head and clearing his throat.

"Oh, I see. Well, good luck with _him_! If there is someone out there who is more Jashin-hating than Uchiha Itachi, it would have to be that fucking money whore, Kakuzu or our basterd of a leader, Rein. Possibly his bitch of a partner…what was her name?" Hidan pondered. "Well, that doesn't really matter. Itachi wouldn't respect my fucking religion if I shoved it down his weasley throat, that fucking basterd. If he can't accept Jashin-sama, he isn't very open-minded and would leave you to fucking die if you tried something he didn't like!"

"Um…I didn't get over half of what you just said, but thanks for caring about me…I think." Sakura said, utterly confused by his speech. Zetsu, both his light and darker halves, rolled his eyes and hit Hidan over the head, causing a colourful outburst from the silver-haired scythe wielder.

"Hey, you guys!" Sasori called from below them. They looked down to see Sasori frowning up at them. Taking the hint, the four jumped to the level Sasori was standing on to listen to what he had to say.

"What is it, Sasori-senpai?" Tobi asked, cocking his head to the side slightly with his question.

"Leader-sama wants us back and he sent those stupid Suna members to collect us." Sasori stated, crossing his arms in hate for the Suna members. No one really liked them, but Sakura did have a slight friendship with the youngest member from Suna, Warabe. However, she doubted that he was here.

"Which members did he send from Suna?" Sakura asked her red-haired ex-base-mate. He looked over at her and sighed, shuddering a little.

"He…he sent Ijimekko, Chuudou and Mugoi." He informed her. "Also, leader-sama wants to know if you're coming to fight with us or not."

"…Not." Sakura told him, finding a sudden interest in the floor by her feet rather than the faces and eyes of the four Akatsuki members before her, her friends. Sasori suddenly became upset and turned to walk away, taking Zetsu, Hidan and Tobi with him. Sakura froze for a second, but soon followed them to the others.

When they arrived, in complete silence, they saw Ijimekko, Chuudou and Mugoi yelling with Kisame and Deidara with Itachi glared at them all though his black bangs. Everyone stopped fighting when Sakura approached though. all of the members, including the Suna boys, had heard of Sakura being Kinikura and the latter only being a temporary alias. The pink-band boys grinned at them, mostly Sakura, and fell silent.

"So, Kini…Saku-chan is coming too?" Ijimekko asked slyly, his dark purple eyes looking at Sakura though his raven black hair. He was built pretty well under his cloak, since he was the taijutsu master from Suna, with muscles and a heart-throbbing grin, but Sakura just scoffed and turned her head away from him. His pink ribbon, which was usually tied to his arm t show he was from Suna, was now tied around his neck as an ascot.

"Awww, she's ignoring us." Complained Mugoi. His green hair blew in the wind, moving away his fringe to reveal his mismatched eyes, one being blue and the other brown. He wasn't as muscled as his partner, but mastered in genjutsu.

"Oh well, she'll come around and ask to be transferred to Suna at some point, I can be sure of it!" Boasted the third, Chuudou, confidently. His own eyes were striking saffron yellow and extremely cat-like while his hair was sandy blonde. Some time since Sakura had last seen him, at the Akatsuki annual, he had added a few red highlights to his hair as well and, along with his lean, flexible build, he looked, dare she think, handsome.

"Actually, I'm not coming. I'm staying at the temple. I just came to say goodbye to Itachi-_kun_ and fishy-chan." She informed them, walking to Kisame and giving him a hug around his chest, which he returned in a brotherly manner. She smiled sadly at him and he smiled back.

Sakura then walked to Itachi and reached up to give him a light peck on the cheek, but the cocky Uchiha moved his face at the last minuet so she kissed him on the lips instead. When she pulled back Sakura glared at him playfully, but he only gave her a smirk and a half-hearted shrug. He sighed and hugged her.

"I'll miss you." He whispered in her ear.

"I'll miss you too." Sakura whispered back. He released her and every, with the exception of te Suna men, said their good byes and the Akatsuki, not Sakura, set off back to the main base in lightening.

"Is it safe now?" Asked Kiba from behind a pillar to Sakura's left. She glared at him, not forgetting what he had said to her the other day, and huffed.

"They're gone, if that's what you mean." Sakura stated to him.

"Good, I'm going back to Konoha. Are you coming?" Kiba questioned her, holding out a hand for her to take.

"No. I'm staying here." Sakura told him coldly. Kiba sighed and ran out of the temple. When he looked back, he couldn't see the temple any more, thus the effects of the hiding jutsu. He sighed again and sped off for Konoha. Since he now knew the way and wasn't tired, he could get there in a matter of hours.

Konoha

Naruto was with Tsunade in the training grounds, going over how to act and behave as a Kage. He was listening intently, although inside his heart was exploding in excitement that his life-long dream was coming true at last. He grinned as Tsunade pulled out a map and when over which Kage ruled over what area. She stared with Hokage, the Kage of Konohagakure, then Kazekage, the Kage of Suna Gakure. Next was the Mizukage, the Kage of Kirigakure in mist, then Raikage, the Kage of Kumogakure in cloud, and finally the Tsuchikage, the Kage of Iwagakure in earth.

"Naruto." Tsunade called to get his attention.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama?" Naruto questioned.

"Go and prepare to move. The war is now."

Hinata was in the hospital, healing up a taijutsu expert who had sprained his ankle while sparring with a ninjutsu expert. She sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Years of watching Sakura do this made it seem easy, since her friend could have done three times the amount of work Hinata had completed without breaking a sweat. She mentally wondered what Naruto was doing, since Tenten had told her that he was still in the office when she left. Hinata sighed again and moved onto her next patient, a child who had swallowed a bug. She winced as the boy coughed and spit out a wing before she got back to work.

"Hyuuga Hinata?" A young Chunin called to the stand-in medic. Hinata, also a Chunin, looked towards the young girl in the Chunin vest.

"Hai?"

"Hokage-sama informed me to tell you that you could go back to the Hyuuga district, the war is beginning now."

Neji scowled as he sent another ninja out to the building usually used to sign up for exams. However, with the war approaching, all ninja ad to report there to sign up with their name, rank and ability in ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, medic-jutsu, weaponry and many more. Even though he only had to recruit his clan, there were many who tried to fake an injury to get out of fighting. It made him sick to know that he would inherit such a cowardly clan. No too long ago he had passed Shinrin, who wanted to know where Hinata was, and sent him to sign up for the war and fight. That was something he hated to do, since his cousin's husband could get killed and she might have to bring up her baby alone. No, Shinrin was strong and he wouldn't leave Hinata alone if he could help it.

"Neji?" His uncle called for him.

"Hai?"

"Tsunade-sama sent me a scroll. You must go and prepare, you leave for the war in a matter of hours."

Sasuke scoffed as one of the children he was training failed to climb a tree with their chakra and no hands. Sure, he couldn't do it right when he tried the first few times, but this had been on the training curriculum for two years and the kid should have gotten it by now. A though hit Sasuke and he told the kid to stop and pull chakra to his arms, the easiest place to pull it. When he couldn't, Sasuke realised that he was another Lee, who couldn't use jutsu but excelled in taijutsu. The Uchiha reported his findings to Iruka, who led the boy to a group of boys and girls who had also shown that they would be better with taijutsu. Sighing, he called up the next person to try. It was a little girl with orange hair and bright pink eyes, but a shy look on her face. Sasuke had mentally marked her down as weak, but she surprised him by climbing right to the top with almost no effort, just as Sakura had done years ago. He smirked and told her to cast a genjutsu, which she did perfectly. He marked her as a genjutsu caster and sent her to the genjutsu group.

"Uchiha Sasuke?" A Jounin called out to the ANBU.

"What?"

"Tsunade-sama sent word. You and any other capable ninja at the academy must now go to the gates of Konoha to leave for the war."

Rock Lee was resting in his apartment with Tenten, who had just gotten home with blueprints for a new katana she was to improve, due to the long run he just had. Going from Suna to Konoha and vice versa wasn't easy work, not even for the green beast of Konoha. He yawned and Tenten smiled at him, giving him a kiss on the cheek, before going back to her blueprints. She scribbled out the part with 'gold handle' and wrote that it would be to heavy and that they should use bronze with a silver blade, since the performance of the katana would improve. Just as Lee was drifting off and Tenten went onto the next blueprint, there was a loud knock at the door, followed by a yell.

"Rock Lee and Rock Tenten, you are to report to the gate of Konoha to leave for the war." The person on the other side of the door stated. Tenten smile at how she had been called and they both left.

Shikamaru and Ibiki had just finished with their plans for the war, placing each ninja in a group and setting the group with the groups of the other villages they were allied with, also giving each group a destination and set enemy. it was the perfect plan, but Ibiki wanted to further improve it, while Shikamaru just wanted a nap. They finished scribbling down some notes, and then sent it via a Chunin to the Hokage. Once that was done, Shikamaru helped Ibiki with three interrogations and several rounds of the prison, checking the cells for escape routes and such. The Nara boy's mind wandered to his girlfriend across the country in wind and how she would react if he actually proposed to her, thus showing effort. She would probably freeze in shock. He smiled and mentally planned to marry her when the war was over.

"Nara Shikamaru, Morino Ibiki, the Hokage wishes for you to report to the gates of Konoha to set out for the war." A Chunin informed them. Ibiki nodded and he set off with the deer-named man in his wake.

Kiba had just arrived at the gate of Konoha and entered to see almost the entire ninja population, plus a few medics and some who were just arriving, lining up across the front in various groups. He met up with Shikamaru, who told him to find group eleven, and then saw Naruto perched on the wall above the gate with Tsunade. He grinned when he saw the Hokage place a hand on the Kyuubi container's shoulder and point out towards him in the crowd. Naruto grinned back and jumped up and down on te spot, yelling that his dream had come true.

"Ninja of Konoha! You are fully aware that the war has begun and we are to move out to Suna and meet our allies there. Many of you will not come back, and many more will be wounded, but we must fight for the safety of this village. The safety of our grandparents, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children and any other relative who cannot fight with us today. We must fight to ensure their safety. As I will also aid the fighting, there is a chance that I shall not come back alive, and so I leave the title of Hokage to Uzamaki Naruto. Good luck, my people and be safe." Tsunade encouraged her troops. Many stood taller and prouder and others, mostly the Konoha twelve and their senseis, applauded Naruto.

Suna

The war was about to begin and Gaara, Kankuro and Temari were never more busy. While Temari was sorting out the troops, Kankuro was gathering the cowards who refused to fight based on a false injury and Gaara spoke with the elders of the village for luck, the city of Suna was in a panic. No one was sure who would live or die and many believed that they would never get to see their loved ones again.

Once the ninja were gathered in lines of troops before the gate of Suna, Gaara walked in the front of them with Temari and Kankuro at his sides, each with a mask of no emotion plastered on their faces. Gaara, not really one for speeches, only planned to say a few words and then had it over to Temari, the most confident of the group when not fighting. She was prepared, just as he was, but would give the speech to Kankuro for the finally. As most villages had but one Kage, Gaara deemed it fit to have three instead. While he held the title, both of his siblings reined over Suna with him to give him advice and support, to continue the legacy of the siblings of Suna.

"As you know, I am not really a man of many words. I shall keep this short and sweet. Don't die, kill the enemy and come home safely." The Kazekage said, trying his best to be encouraging. See his efforts, the ninja gathered and the crowds watching applauded, not that Gaara cared in the least.

"To carry on from my brother," Temari started. "I would like to offer you all the best of luck. We shall wipe out the enemy and _prove_ to everyone that Suna –no the country of wind is the best! With our allies in fire, lightening and stone, we shall defeat the Akatsuki and the pitiful excuse for a village, Otogakure! We will triumph!" The fan-wielding konoichi boasted confidently, looking to Kankuro to finish it his own…unique way.

"LET'S DO THIS!" He yelled as the gates opened and the ninja left for the great divide.

The temple

Sakura was pacing in her room. The war would have begun by now and she had friends on every side, even Otogakure. Making up her mind, she picked up a small pack and shrunk weapons, scrolls, potions and poisons, placing each in her black backpack carefully.

"Where are we going, onee-chama?" Tyiko asked from the door, standing with Terrane, Ryiko, Karene, Sosei and Hasha. They all had a bag on their back too, the twins sporting different shades of brown, Karene wearing a dark green back, Terrane having a baby blue one while Sosei wore a crimson red backpack and Hasha had a dark orange one. Sakura looked at her bag, slung it over her shoulder and pushed passed all of them with a face as hard as stone.

"I'm going to fight in the war." She stated.

"Which side?" Hasha asked, peering into her emerald orbs with his own onyx ones.

"My own side." Sakura answered.

"We're coming too." Sosei told her, leaving no room for arguments. The pink-haired konoichi looked back at the group by her bedroom door.

"Onee-chama." Ryiko and Tyiko called sadly.

"Onee-chama?" Terrane asked, hopeful of helping her.

"Onee-chan." Karene said, with his voice full of pleading.

"Sakura-chan." Sosei said, stating in her name that he was coming to protect her.

"Sakura-senpai, we're coming." Hasha said. Sakura looked from the twins to Terrane, then Karene, followed by Sosei and ending at Hasha. She nodded and they each filed out of the corridor.

An old man and an old woman watched as the future of the ninja world jumped though the barrier around the temple and into a war. The boy whom was saved from a war, the girl who saved him, the young man who encouraged the girl and the four children whom the girl had saved from a life of cruelty. Without knowing it, that single pinkette, their first granddaughter, had the soul to stop the war. Also, she had the key to the soul of purity within her adopted siblings.

That soul, however, was only inside of one of them and, when the time came, Sakura would have to make the decision of whom to sacrifice, herself or her sibling.


	54. Chapter Fifty Three

Chapter Fifty Three

"Did you hear about the war in the south?" A villager of the town the seven travellers of the war were stopping at for a few hours to get some food, clothes and more weapons.

"Of course I have! They say that the countries of fire, wind, lightening and stone are taking on the Akatsuki and sound together, while sound and Akatsuki have no allies." Another replied. Sakura walked passed them and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, we split up from here. Terrane and I will go looking for some new clothes for us and weapons. Ryiko and Tyiko; go with Sosei to get clothes for you and you're in charge of getting us some food. Karene and Hasha; you need clothes as well and I want you be my information gatherers. We need to know if the war has begun and how long it's been happening if it has. We meet back here in one hour. _Do not_ be late." Sakura commanded, taking the leaders role.

"Hai!" Everyone chorused. Terrane took Sakura's hand and the boys split into their teams and left. The pinkette looked to the woods, were Morokie and Toro were hiding, and then at the roof of the inn across the street from them, which had Hinichi sat on the roof. Sakura smirked and lead Terrane towards a clothes shop.

They went into one named '_Death in pink'_, a well know shop in this town for konoichi fashions in an assortment of colours, and looked around. The first thing that caught their attention was the hordes of pink that many konoichi in there were gathered at, but they both cringed and made a bee-line towards the clothes they wore the most. Terrane went for the blues and whites while Sakura headed for the reds and blacks.

Terrane sorted though the racks of clothes, passing mini-skirts and tube tops alike and even some monstrous six-inch heels. How could a konoichi fight in those shoes? Picking out a dress-like outfit from the white section she skidded into the blue section. In there, she found the rest of her outfit and sighed in relief, since the next stop for the outfit quest would have been pink. Terrane gathered up her chosen outfit and smiled, looking for a free changing room and her big sister. The former of the two she needed was easily found and her sister was recognised as the blob of pink in the black section, all alone. She mentally laughed and walked to her sister, keeping an eye on the changing room.

"Sakura-onee-chama! I've picked my outfit." She declared to her older sister happily. Sakura smiled down at the brunette and Terrane noticed a stack of clothes in her sister's hands too.

"Okay, we just need to find a changing room and we can try this stuff on and leave." Sakura declared. Haruno Terrane smiled again and led Sakura to the changing room she had found, which by some miracle was still free, and the small girl jumped inside to try on the clothes.

When Terrane re-emerged from the changing room, she was wearing a white fitted dress, which stopped just above her knee and had no sleeves, along with icy blue under-shorts that stopped on her knees and mid-calf boots in the same colour as the shorts. She also picked out a light blue crystal heart necklace attached to a baby blue-beaded thread to put around her neck. Her long brown hair had been put up into a ponytail on top of her head and reached to her lower back.

"Brava! You look great!" Sakura informed her sister. Terrane blushed and sat in her new clothes while Sakura got changed. They had decided to wear the clothes out of the shop and just tell the man selling them what they got. Of course, huntress was always a back-up plan.

Sakura stepped out of the dressing room and Terrane stared in awe at her older sister's beauty. Her pink hair had been put up in two bunches on each side of her head and the hair-bands had been covered by her wrapping some hair around them. She was wearing a red dress with a white zipper going from the neck, which scoped to her collar bone, down to her stomach and then off to the side. The dress had Haruno circles on the arms, which were above her mid-bicep, and the sleeves, collar and bottom of the dress all had white lining. stopped near her mid-thigh where you could see black under-shorts going down to the top of her knees. On her feet she wore black combat boots, which stopped about five centimetres below her knees and laced up at the front. She had a silver cherry blossom pendant hanging from a dainty silver chain around her neck to finish the look.

"Wow, Sakura-onee-chama. You look so cool!" Terrane gasped in amazement. Sakura smiled and laughed a little.

"It's almost the same clothes I wore as a genin." Sakura told her lightly, looking at herself in the mirror and straightening a few wrinkles in her dress.

"Sorry, but I can't imagine you as a genin, onee-chama. If you were, I bet you were the strongest out of everyone." Terrane pointed out. Sakura shook her head and smiled sadly.

"Nah, I was one of the weakest as a genin. I spent more time flirting with the boy I liked than training and didn't pass the Chunin exams the first time I took them." Sakura confessed. "Come on, let's pay and go buy the weapons."

The two females paid for their clothes and exited the shop, now searching the town for the blacksmith or weaponry. It took around ten minuets, after the thirty it took to get clothes, and they finally found a weapons shop near a candle maker to the left of the fountain. They only had twenty minuets before they had to meet the boys, so this wasn't the best time to look though the inventory and, instead, they just chose the weapons everyone would use the most.

For Sakura, they got three Kakute along with a set of Kama, a large Ono, ten shuriken and five kunai. She had said that, since she was better with jutsu and hand-to-hand than weapons, she would only use the ones she was best at. Ryiko and Tyiko would receive the same each; they got the twins some Shobo, ten shuriken, five kunai and a Bokken, also known as a wooden sword, each. Karene got Ashiko, to help speed up his already impressive speed, and a few senbon needles along with the same amount of shuriken and kunai the others received. Hasha, since he preferred to only use weapons as a last resort, only got the kunai, shurikens and a Tanto just encase. Sosei got the shuriken, kunai and a Bo as well as a Naginata.

Being a weapons mistress, as she was, Terrane received as many weapons as she could carry, along with a few that were easy to transform with her newly learnt jutsu. She had a Bo for transforming, thirty poisoned senbon, ten non-poisoned senbon, fifty shuriken, thirty kunai, a Fukiya, four Kakute, a pair of Kama, a set of Neko-te, two Tessen, a Yari and seven empty weapon scrolls to put them all in. No one was going to outmatch Terrane in weaponry.

The young weapon-medic put her poisoned senbon into the bottom section of the pouch on her right hip and her non-poisoned senbon into the top and then placed her shuriken in the pouch on her left hip and her kunai into the holster on her right leg. She then proceeded in placing the weapons into her scrolls and slipped on her baby blue gloves before putting one of her Kakute on her left middle finger. Sakura put on her red gloves and slipped her three Kakute on her left middle and little fingers and her right wedding finger. Sakura and Terrane, after the latter had placed each weapon into a scroll or her holsters, ran to the meeting point the seven had agreed upon. In the end, they were five minuets late and the boys were all there waiting for them.

_With Sosei and the twins_

The seven travellers had just split up and the three boys, Sosei and the twins, had opted to buy clothes then food. they walked around for a while, wasting five minuets of their hour, before finding a shop called '_the secret shinobi'_ on the main street. They mentally hit themselves for not seeing it earlier, since they had passed that street four or five times before. On their way into the shop, they passed two boys in the middle of knocking the other one out, but ignored it.

As soon as they entered, the twins raced towards the hair accessories and Sosei set off towards robes and fighting kimono. All of them chose the outfit they wanted, the twins picking the same as the other, and when into a separate changing room. This had taken another load of their minuets, meaning they only had half an hour to food shop if they left now, which they didn't.

Ryiko and Tyiko stepped out at the same time, stared at the other for a few seconds and grinned, giving their mirror-brother a thumbs-up sign for approval. They both had a long-sleeved white shirt with a medium brown shirt over it, the sleeves reaching the elbow. For trousers they had opted for lighter brown shorts, which reached just below their knees, and their shoes were black trainers. As mentioned before, they both when to the hair accessories section and selected a red head band to go around their foreheads. Their sandy blonde hair was now styled in a similar way to Sasuke when he was a genin, but their spike was to the side of their head, Ryiko had his to the left while Tyiko had his to the right. They grinned and sat on the floor, waiting for Sosei.

When the older Haruno finally stepped out, the twins' eyes widened at his choice in clothing and several girls began to crowd round his changing room, asking for dates and declaring their love. Sosei was wearing black, knee-length shorts with black trainers and his blood-red hair was left down, giving it a blown-by-the-wind style. His shirt, if you could call it such, was a red robe, going down to the middle of his thigh, with white lining and the Haruno symbol on the back in white. The robe, however, was left open. It showed his muscled chest and his well-defined six-pack, which had previously been hidden under a priest-robe.

His blue eyes were glinting with mischief, not much different from that of the twins', and the three boys struck martial arts poses. Sosei was in the middle, poised to punch and imaginary opponent in front of him, while the twins were on either side of him, kicking outwards. The girls fainted at the show-offs and they ran out of the shop, throwing the money for their clothes on the counter as they left.

"That was fun!" Ryiko yelled, laughing with his brothers, who agreed completely.

"We should hurry up and get the food; we only have ten minuets to get to the meeting point." Sosei told them.

The twins nodded and they all walked across the street, passed the same two boys as earlier covered in small cuts and bruises, into a food shop. Food shopping only took around five minuets, they had filled their arms, and they paid for all of it, stuffed it into their backpacks and went to the meeting point, where they found that they were the first to arrive. They were five minuets early and just waited, munching on an apple each.

Not too soon later, Karene and Hasha arrived back. The two boys, however, never stopped glaring at each other.

_With Karene and Hasha_

Everyone had gone in separate directions, leaving Hasha and Karene in the middle of the street. They looked at each other, glared and looked away with a pout. Neither of the two made a move to leave and, when they did, they only when in separate directions before returning to find their 'partner' for the hour.

"We should get clothes from a shop over _there_!" Hasha yelled stubbornly, taking Karene's arm and dragging him to the left. Karene wriggled out of his grip, took a firm hold on the older boy's upper arm and dragged him to the right.

"No, this way!" Karene said, giving Hasha a sharp tug. They argued over which way to go until Karene punched Hasha in the arm, while Hasha returned it with a clean kick in the side. The two threw punches and kicks at each other, not noticing three familiar people pass them about four times, and eventually gave up and went down the road behind them.

Hasha noticed a shop called '_Be a man'_. It wasn't a ninja clothing shop, but the clothes in there would probably do well enough for the movement they needed and travel. To get even for the fight earlier, which was a draw, he hit Karene over the back of the head to get his attention.

"Hey! Why did yo-"

"I found a shop, baka." Hasha told him plainly. Karene's face went red in anger, but they went inside the shop non-the-less.

It wasn't anything special and none of the clothes had ninja brands, but it would do, just as Hasha thought. Thankful for the chance, they split up and went to different halves of the shop in their search for clothes, only to end up in front of the same changing room. Hasha scowled, Karene glared.

"I was here first, pipsqueak." Hasha declared, stomping his foot.

"Nuh-uh, I was teme!" Karene returned, shaking his head mockingly.

"Hmph, you're not going in. I am!" Hasha pronounced, entering the changing room. Karene, who had thought of a plan, gave the older boy enough time to change out of his clothes without the time needed to get into his new ones. The younger boy smirked.

"Hey, Hasha-teme!" Karene called though the door.

"What?" Hasha asked back, annoyed by the small brunette.

"I can see Sakura-onee-chan outside. She's kissing some boy…on the lips too!" Karene yelled to him. Hasha gasped from inside and unlocked the door, storming out of the changing room and into the shop. He looked at the window and saw…nothing. Just a Karene had expected, Hasha's jealous nature and possessiveness over Sakura had forced him out and allowed the younger boy to step in, which he did. Karene threw Hasha's clothes, both old and new, over the top of the door for him. Hasha was left there…in his underwear.

"Karene let me in!" Hasha demanded, banging on the changing room door, getting odd glances from the staff. He then noticed the one next to the changing room he was just in was now free. Hasha flushed and turned red from embarrassment, gathered up his clothes and ran into the changing room.

They had finished changing and paying and were now standing in the street in their new clothes. Hasha was wearing a dark brown tank top with dark crimson shorts, which stopped just below his knees, and no shoes, since he didn't like to wear them. Karene, on the other hand, was wearing brown ninja sandals, a dark grey, elbow-length sleeved shirt and the same trousers as Hasha, except in black. The older boy had swept his hair back and let some of it fall over his left eye while Karene spiked his fringe up. Still glaring, they began to listen for information regarding the war and the time it started.

"I heard that the war began yesterday. It's somewhere west of Suna, near the great divide." One woman said to her friends. The boys exchanged surprised looks, since all the information they needed had just come out of one woman, and shrugged. They decided, since it was time to meet up with everyone now, that they would go to the meeting point.

When the boys got there, they were greeted by the slightly shocked faces of Sosei, Tyiko and Ryiko, but no Sakura or Terrane. They waited and, in a matter of minuets, the girls came speeding into sight. Hasha, the poor boy, turned an interesting shade of pink, similar to Sakura's hair, when he saw Sakura and Terrane, the even poorer girl, turned bright red when she saw Hasha.

"What did you get?" Sosei asked his younger sisters. Sakura rolled her eyes and Terrane grinned widely.

"Sakura-onee-chama has three Kakute, a set of Kama, a large Ono, ten shuriken and five kunai. Ryiko-nii-san and Tyiko-nii-san have some Shobo, ten shuriken, five kunai and a Bokken each. Karene-nii-chama got some Ashiko and a few senbon needles as well as the same amount of shuriken and kunai as the rest of us. Hasha-san only got the kunai, shurikens and a Tanto just encase. Sosei-onii-chama got the shuriken, kunai and a Bo as well as a Naginata." Terrane told them happily, handing out the boys' weapons.

"What about you, Terrane-san?" Hasha asked politely. Terrane turned red again and smiled as she remembered all of her new weapons.

"I got a Bo for my new **Buki hensen Kage no jutsu**, thirty poisoned senbon, ten non-poisoned senbon, fifty shuriken, thirty kunai, a Fukiya, four Kakute, a pair of Kama, a set of Neko-te, two Tessen, a Yari and seven empty weapon scrolls to put them all in." She told them.

"That's…a lot of stuff." Karene said in awe. The rest of the boys just nodded and stared at the young weapons mistress, who nervously smiled back.

"What about you three?" Sakura asked her older brother and the twins.

"We got the food!" The boys told her in union. "What about you?" They asked Hasha and Karene.

"We know that the war started yesterday near the great divide, just west of Sunagakure." Hasha told them, smirking at the angry Karene.

"Well, off we go." Sakura said as she whistled for Hinichi, who swooped down and landed on Ryiko's shoulder, Toro, who stood next to Karene, and Morokie, who went right near Tyiko. Terrane took out her gin hi ken (silver ice blade), which was a very large sword, and rested it on her shoulder, Hasha looked towards Sakura and they left the town in the direction of Suna.

_The War_

Smoke rose from the flaming hell of a battle field. Blood rivers ran down hills and across the desert sands. Corpses lay in the pools of red and the death count was so large you could smell the bodies. No one was safe from Konoha's flame archers, lead by Rock Tenten. Not a soul could flee from Suna's puppet legion, lead by Sabaku no Kankuro. Lives were wiped out from Kumogakure's storm weavers, lead by Nii Yugito. Many fell victim to Iwagakure's earthquake runners, lead by Rokku Hitsu.

On the other side, the Akatsuki had four legions. The boom-boom boys, lead by Deidara to use explosive tags, or clay, to create explosions. The shark drowners, lead by Kisame as an assault with water. The mind benders, lead by Itachi to cast genjutsus. The string-less puppets, lead by Sasori to poison lines of enemies. Ultimately, the leader himself was sending clones out to fight, killing off most of sound. By the rate of this battle, the allies of wind, fire, lightening and earth and Akatsuki would be in the lead for victory.

Sound, even with Kabuto alone leading his legion of fighters, was losing pitifully. Ninja after ninja were taken down, dead. Dropping like flies, no longer any use to Orochimaru or Kabuto. They were going to die. The option of fleeing was slowing become impossible and. As the enemy got closer and closer, they knew that sound would fall. Even after the mutations and endless training for the war, Akatsuki and the allied nations were just too much.

There, on a risen mound of earth, were seven silhouettes against the sun, slowly approaching the battle before stopping in their tracks. The war would end with the pure of heart or Sakura, the spawn of hell.

Who would live and who would die.

The hell spawn shall choose.


	55. Chapter Fifty Four

Chapter Fifty Four

The once green, now purple, eyes of the child from hell, me, scanned the battle field before her. Death was everywhere. The fighting had gone from thousands fighting against thousands, to hundreds against hundreds and now only tens verses tens. Some fights had even been lowered to two on one, but the young girl with pink hair didn't take heed of this. She only watched as Konoha and her allies killed Otogakure and the allies of sound with quick strikes and deadly jutsus.

We, the Haruno six stood, with an unrecognised boy. To the right of the field stood the Akatsuki; opposite them, on the left, were the Konoha ninja, now with the ninja Suna, Lightening and Earth with them, and before the seven ninja stood the shinobi and konoichi from the country of sound, with mist, water and grass as their allies. The rebels Sai was with made no appearance, which was not unexpected, since they were all cowards who boasted about winning the war without reason.

Terrane, the youngest out of them all, was shaking in fear and holding my thin leg, closing her eyes to try and make the sight go away form her vision. It was a sorry sight for one so young, but she refused to stay behind and followed me and the others away.

"I'll deal with this alone. Don't interfere." I told her family, and Hasha, firmly; they all moved back, away from the scene of fighting, so I could do what I had to do.

"**Bunretsu** **Damashii no JUTSU!**" I yelled as I was consumed by a blinding pink light. All three armies looked to the hill we settled on and closed or shielded their eyes. I was mumbling something in an incoherent language, at least to everyone around me, finishing the jutsu. Before my Technique was finished, the light brightened and became blue, then purple and finally a frightening shade of blood red.

When the light subsided, many people gasped at the sight that now lay before their eyes. I was split into three parts. My jutsu, spilt soul technique, had broken my inner counterparts into real-life bodies, like clones but they had their own mind, shape and soul. The first one, to the right of my true form, was a small child with pink hair in braided bunches on the sides of her head and beautiful, bright green eyes. She was wearing an outfit similar to the one I was wearing, but it was smaller to fit her five-year-old form, little Saku-chan. The one on the left was an exact copy of my real self, except she was in black and white with 'inner' on her forehead in kanji, Inner Sakura-chan. I had my Zoneingan trained on the field before my. The three souls of hells spawn were released.

"_**Let's go, Sakura-chan!**__" _The youngest yelled happily as she ran to the area with the sound ninja, Hinichi flying with her.

"**Time to end this war, CHA!**" The black and white one declared, running towards Konoha and her allies, Toro running to stay with her.

"_Let's do this._" I said with a grin, jumping to the Akatsuki, Morokie following in my footsteps.

"_**You can stop this war, or we'll stop it for you.**_" The child-like Sakura told sound with a smile. Hinichi screeched, causing some of the ninja to shake, before she landed on Saku-chan's shoulder.

"**If we have to stop this war…it will NOT be pretty at all, I can promise you that! SHANNARO!**" Inner Sakura informed the group she ran to. Toro growled, daring them to refuse.

"_I don't want to hurt anyone, but I will._" I said with blank, farseeing eyes looking past the Akatsuki and seeing only the way of pain. Morokie stared them down with her eyes, as cold as the ice they were coloured like.

"We're not going to surrender like weak babies just because you said so, girlie!" An Akatsuki member declared loudly. I, and the other two Sakuras, smirked.

"_**Have it your way then**_" We said in union, backing into the centre of the field. "_**Burookunhaato no jutsu!**_" We yelled. Several people from all sides of the field fell, grasping their chests in pain. "_**Sukketsushi no jutsu!**_" Even more fell to the ground, bleeding from wounds they never had.

"_**And now…**_"

"…**The last jutsu…**"

"…_Jiyuujin no jutsu._" I whispered sadly. Every heart was free from all and any thoughts for war, but my own energy was gone. I could no longer stand and I fell on my knees shakily.

Sosei ran to me, but stopped as the blood red light formed around me, becoming purple, then blue and finally pink before it vanished, leaving one Sakura, my true form, behind. I was panting heavily and fell onto my side in the mud, exhausted form all the chakra usage. Sosei went to me again and tried to help me up, but his skin burned upon contact with my own heated flesh. Only the child pf purity could touch me now.

"T-Terrane…come h…come here." I struggled to say. Terrane obliged and walked to my side, placing her gloved hands in my own, glove-covered appendages.

"Y-Yes, onee-chama?" Terrane asked, hiccupping slightly.

"D-Do you know the o-old s-story of the h-hell spawn and h-heavens child?" I asked my younger sibling.

"H-Hai."

"You are th-the child of heaven…the p-pure child. I'm t-the spawn of h-hell, the bad o-one."

"In th-the legend it s-says that one h-has to die f-for peace." Terrane sobbed, knowing what was coming.

"Y-Yep. And that o-one is me."

"NO! Sakura you can't!" Hasha yelled, running forward, soon followed by the other males.

Akatsuki heard this, as well as the allies of Konoha, and a few rushed forward to see me. Tenten, Lee, Sasuke, Neji, Hinata, Temari, Naruto, Kankuro, Shinzune, Kakashi, Itachi, Kisame, Hidan, Sasori, Deidara, Zetsu and Tobi all fought to see me.

"Sakura, I can save you. I can put my chakra into you so you can heal yourself." Itachi suggested, holding my cold body close to him. He lifted his hand to give me chakra, but I held it and put it back to his side, shaking my heavy head.

"Don't. I need to die." I told him firmly. Tears fell, from some more than others, as I turned limp in Itachi's arms and my world turned black. I could see, due to my three souls, the sight of the living as I died. Sasuke could only stare at his brother…he had never seen him cry before.

"I can save her." Terrane declared. She pushed Itachi away and placed her hands over my corpse's heart.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked the child.

"The spawn of hell was her life force, and that's gone. If I push some of my life force into her, it wont affect me for the long-term causes, I'll just be a bit tired, but their would technically be no hell spawn, even if she's still alive." Terrane explained. Many stared at her in awe for intelligence and such a young age, but Terrane pushed the white healing chakra she commanded into her my chest, trying to start my heart.

My emerald eyes snapped open and I gasped for air greedily, releasing several shaky breaths.

"W-What happened?" I asked, not expecting what came next. Every person close enough rushed to hug me at once, but only Uchiha Itachi succeeded in doing so. He held me close and breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're okay. I can't believe it, but you're alive." Naruto stated in wonder, but happiness for his friend's life. Itachi couldn't help it; he kissed me right there, not caring who saw. I returned it immediately and the broke apart, I was smiling at him and Itachi smirking back.

"I can't believe it." I said, not feeling an ounce of hells life force in my body any more, but a small piece of pure soul. I smiled proudly at Terrane and got up, still hugging Itachi close.

I don't know why but sometimes I get this feeling. It's telling me that this isn't the end. No, this is only the beginning.

**Fin**


End file.
